Free Republic

A young couple in Indonesia’s Aceh province were whipped on Thursday after they were caught cuddling in public – a crime under the conservative region’s Islamic law. Hundreds of spectators watched as an 18-year-old university student and her boyfriend, also 18, were whipped 17 times each outside a mosque in Banda Aceh, the provincial capital. Flogging is used as punishment for a range of offences in the region at the tip of Sumatra island, including gambling, drinking alcohol, and having gay sex or relations outside of marriage. A 35-year-old man was also flogged with a rattan cane for being intimate...

<p>On a Saturday night in Venice, California, light spills from an open door on an otherwise dark street. The space appears to be an art gallery or studio: blank walls, cubbies for shoes and personal items and cushioned mats and pillows lining half of the room's hardwood floor.</p>

Rolling Stone Promotes ‘Professional Cuddling’ as Way of ‘Coping’ With Trump By Scott Whitlock | August 4, 2017 3:45 PM EDT How unhinged are some media outlets in responding to the election of Donald Trump? Rolling Stone's website on Friday promoted “professional cuddling” as a reaction to those struggling to “cope.” Writer Allie Voipe highlighted this presumably blue state response: “Since November – and the election of Donald Trump – professional cuddling services have seen a spike in client interest.” According to Adam Lippin, the CEO of Cuddlist, “The holiday season was the first time that since Trump won the...

PASCAGOULA, Miss. – Authorities said a Mississippi Gulf Coast man apparently thought he was at his girlfriend's place when he wandered into another couple's home and fell asleep on their couch. Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd told The Mississippi Press that a couple in the St. Martin community found a stranger snoozing on their couch and cuddling a teddy bear late Saturday.

DETROIT — Linda Rose (search) says she spent three hours crouched in the corner of a concrete cell at the Saginaw County Jail (search), shivering and sobbing, after deputies stripped her of her clothes and left her naked in front of a surveillance camera. "They don't need to strip you of your clothes and your dignity," said Rose, who was arrested in 2001 for drunken driving. The claim by the 36-year-old bartender is one of dozens of accounts of humiliating treatment that have emerged as part of a lawsuit against the county.

Seeking out human touch has never been so anonymous, intimate or easy as in a new phenomenon called a cuddle party. "I love to cuddle. I love to meet new people and make friends," said Kelly, a cuddle party participant. Cuddle parties are the newest trend sweeping the country. Both young and old people are taking part. At a cuddle party, complete strangers nuzzle, massage, hug and sometimes even kiss. "They are often experiencing a loss. Maybe they've just broken up with a boyfriend. Maybe they've just lost a wife. They really need the energy that comes from close physical...