TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (FEMALE RAPE-CULTURE EDITION): Teacher who had sex with student should get off easy because he wanted it: lawyers.

Peterson, who previously taught at New Smyrna Beach Middle School, pleaded guilty in October to lewd and lascivious battery sex act with a child and electronic transmission of material harmful to minors, admitting that she had sex with an eighth-grader in her car and gave him oral sex in her home and in a barn behind his home between November 2017 and last January, court documents show.

Peterson could have been sentenced to up to 20 years in prison if convicted of both felonies at trial, but she now faces between five and 10 years behind bars when she’s sentenced Wednesday at a courthouse in DeLand.

As part of that plea deal, Peterson’s attorneys will be allowed to seek a lesser sentence for the disgraced former teacher, and one of the reasons they cited is that the teen victim was a “willing participant” in the sexual assaults, during which he was legally unable to provide consent under state law.

But at least one law professor contacted by the newspaper disagreed with that strategy, since the legal age of consent in the Sunshine State is 18.

“The child is below the age of legal consent for sexual activity with an adult, so the fact that they were a willing participant, in my mind, is actually an escalator,” Stetson College of Law Professor Charlie Rose told the newspaper. “It’s an indication that perhaps the child was manipulated into engaging in sexual activity. It does not make the crime less culpable.”

To be honest, I think 18 is a bit high as the age of consent, but no male teacher would get less time with a “Your Honor, she wanted it!” argument regarding an eighth grader, and sauce for the goose. . .

DEFINITELY STAY TUNED: Turkey says it will definitely take over fight against ISIS when U.S. leaves. Understand I regard Erdogan as a bad actor. However, he’s a bad actor who understands where his best interests really lie. They do not lie with Moscow, Tehran and Beijing. That said, Syria will test this opinion. One other point: I’m still not sure what constitutes U.S. withdrawal from Syria. Potent U.S. and French forces are positioned in Iraq — within tactically reasonable strike distance.

TAKING SIDES: University of Michigan Spins for Gun Control.

WHEN THE GOVERNMENT’S TRYING TO BUY THE LOYALTY OF THE SECURITY FORCES, IT’S A BAD SIGN: Emmanuel Macron caves in to police pay rise demands in wake of riots and ‘blue vest’ cop protest.

OPEN THREAD: It’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas.

THE TROUBLE WITH THESE SHUTDOWNS IS THAT THEY NEVER LAST. Seen on Facebook:

Also:

TOXIC: Top users of social media at greater risk for depression, survey says.

Related: Social Media as Social Disease.

FIRST, THE APPLE WATCH, NOW THIS: Omron’s smartwatch blood pressure monitor cleared by FDA, launches in January.

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TRUMP’S MANAGEMENT STYLE NO SURPRISE IF YOU GREW UP RUNNING HOTELS: Like Robert Weissberg, whose father owned major hotels in multiple big cities across the country.

Writing in American Thinker, Weissberg says “overseeing a hotel empire is comparable to managing a fire or police department in a Detroit-like city. Hotels operate 24/7, 365 days a year and exist in near perpetual crisis. I grew up hearing about electricity or hot water suddenly going kaput, reservation systems gone awry, unions threatening picket lines, or health inspectors warning about closing restaurants while an awaiting mass transit strike meant that hotel workers could not show up for their jobs.”

And that’s not the half of it! Go here for the rest. Doesn’t answer the question of whether running the country like a hotel chain is the best way, but it sure beats running it like a social justice experiment on campus.

DEATH STAR TO EMPLOY JEDI MIND TRICKS: AT&T to Begin Tricking Customers into Thinking They Have 5G Service.

REMEMBER WHEN THREE OF OBAMA’S FORMER SECRETARIES OF DEFENSE BLASTED HIM? That was far more troubling than Mattis’s resignation.

YOUR DAILY TREACHER: Der Spiegel Reporter Was a Rotten Apple, and CNN Went Bananas for Him.

UPDATE: Link was incorrect; now fixed. Sorry!

SUPREME COURT BLOCKS TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S EFFORT TO TIGHTEN ASYLUM RULES: “Chief Justice John Roberts sided with the court’s liberal justices in declining to stay District Court judge Jon Tagar’s original restraining order that blocked the measure, while conservative Justices Clarence Thomas, Samuel Alito, Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh dissented.”

SO, MORE DISCOUNTED BOOKS BY SARAH A. HOYT:  The Super Stupendous Holiday Extravaganza Goes On!

VICTOR DAVIS HANSON: The Globalist Mindset: They Hate You.

THE INSTA-DAUGHTER GOT THIS AS A “SECRET SANTA” GIFT AT WORK and loves it. “It’s so cute.”

DAVID SOLWAY: Is Poetry Dead?

Nonsense. Just look at how much Harry Reid did for cowboy poetry.

TAMARA KEEL: Traveling with Firearms: Tips for the Interstate Concealed Carrier.

We need federal civil rights legislation providing a maximum state penalty of $50 for violations of state laws regarding guns, so long as the firearm and its possession are legal under federal law.

SUPREME COURT JUSTICE RUTH BADER GINSBURG, 85, UNDERGOES LUNG PROCEDURE TO REMOVE CANCEROUS GROWTH.

Last week: Ginsburg: My health is fine, ribs are ‘almost repaired.’

+P RATED 9MM IS THE NEXT BIG THING: First Look: SIG Sauer M17 9mm +P Ammunition.

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TEACH WOMEN NOT TO RAPE! (CONT’D): 3 Students Warned Principal About Ariz. Teacher Before She Allegedly Had Sex with Sixth-Grade Boy.

FLIPPING THE SCRIPT: Tucker Carlson Is Absolutely Right — Illegal Immigration Is Destroying The Environment.