Jess Lahitou

Jess Lahitou

Bio

Jess is a literature lover, former teacher, new(ish) mother, and politics junkie. Currently in Miami, this Colorado native is embracing the culture shock. Art Basel? Wynwood? Ropa Vieja? Yes, please.

Jess Lahitou Articles

Why are female-voiced bots responding so passively - or even gratefully - to sexual harassment?

Sexism Programmed Into Bots Like Siri? Yeah, It's True

Digital assistants such as Siri are not people. Yet, the way these female-voiced bots are programmed to react when being sexualized or sexually harassed paints a pretty bleak picture of how Silicon Valley organizes its values.

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Image: Flickr

Red, White And News: John Boehner, Who is He? And Why Should I Care?

The workings of Congress are pretty fascinating. If you like The Borgias, The Tudors, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, then following the seemingly innocuous happenings in DC is a fascinating enterprise. You know that this is where the real action happens.

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Quick Recap: The Republican Debate Without Trump

Last night, Fox News hosted the final Republican debate before Iowa caucus goers cast their votes on Monday. Donald Trump, refusing to participate if Megyn Kelly was debate moderator, skipped the event. He instead held his own rally across town, scheduling his speech to coincide with the start of the Fox debate.

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Given their unfair and potentially exploitative access to the personal life details of millions of voters, in an ideal world, social media tycoons wouldn’t run at all. (Image Credit: Instagram/@zuck)

Is The Next President Coming Out Of Silicon Valley?

Americans deserve to vote without being unwittingly “nudged,” “tweaked,” or otherwise manipulated by those with the most power and most incentive to do so. Ergo, any candidate from Silicon Valley needs to be treated with an excess of skepticism.

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Reporters, prepare to be shushed. (Image Credit: Michael Vadon / Flickr)

Donald Trump Is Donald Trump: Notes On His First Press Conference As President-elect

Will every story that Trump doesn’t approve of get the “fake news” label, its authors permanently blacklisted forever?

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Google, Facebook, and Microsoft basically Silicon Valley committed what must be an unforgivable act of corporate greed —defending a website selling underage sex.

Silicon Valley Defended A Website Selling Underage Sex

Silicon Valley companies defending sex trafficking has made me question if good people — or even baseline-human people — actually exist anymore.

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My mom has been an invaluable mentor — not just to me, but to many of my friends.

A Mother's Wisdom: Why Everyone Needs A Mentor And A Friend

Back in my early twenties, I struggled financially. But more so in that much-mocked Millennial quest of “finding myself,” I made a number of questionable decisions.

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Is it worth it to you?

Should You Support The Salvation Army?

If you’ve heard recent Internet claims that The Salvation Army doesn’t deserve your money, and you are now wondering whether or not to toss a few coins in the red can on your way to stock up on Christmas goodies, here’s a thought experiment:

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The nightmare that is Aleppo defies description. (Image Credit: Freedom House via Flickr)

How To Help Syria

With Twitter awash in letters of goodbyes, 140-word final messages from “collateral damage,” my heart broke last night. That doesn’t mean anything, and neither does this: I want to say I’m sorry to Syria.

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A recent poll found a whopping 58% of voters disapprove of their presidential choices.

3 Independent Party Candidates That Could Win The White House And Why

All this means that, for the first time since 1992, a third-party candidate has a very strong chance of impacting election results. And if something truly wild were to happen (say, no candidate broke the 270-electoral vote mark needed to win the presidency), then there’s an outside chance that a third-party could actually win the White House.

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