Don't let Kid Rock lie about coming "straight out of the trailer" (PHOTO)

Rock and rap music stars invariably had gritty childhoods in big cities and then overcame their needy childhoods, right? Well, not in this case. . .

Although his debut album, entitled "Grits Sandwiches for Breakfast," paints word pictures of a rough-and-tumble lifestyle, Kid Rock, now 45, grew up amid affluence as the son of the presumed sellers of the house, former auto dealer Bill Ritchie, now 75.

Online public records show the current owner is William R. Ritchie, who also owns a home in celebrity-studded Jupiter Island, Fla., where singer Celine Dion and pro golfer Tiger Woods also have homes.

The four-bedroom, four-bath, neo-Georgian colonial house is steps away from a private stable with two horse stalls and a tack room, a tennis court, and the estate sports the name “Apple Crest Farm,” Milstein said.

“Isn’t that gorgeous? That’s what everyone calls this property,” she said, which is zoned to allow three horses. It went on the market Tuesday, Milstein said, adding: “I’ve never seen so many (Internet) hits on a listing.”




http://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/macomb/2016/11/04/kid-rock-macomb-county-house/93299716/

Oklahoma Democrats sweep 2 special elections

Democrats have swept two special elections in the Tulsa and Oklahoma City areas for state representative and senator after the resignation of Republican lawmakers.

In House District 75, which includes portions of east Tulsa and north Broken Arrow, unofficial results show voters picked Democrat Karen Gaddis over Republican Tressa Nunley. Both were vying to replace former Republican state Rep. Dan Kirby, who resigned this year after two former legislative assistants accused him of sexual harassment.

In Senate District 44 in south Oklahoma City, voters selected Democrat Michael Brooks over Republican Joe Griffin. He'll replace ex-state Sen. Ralph Shortey, who faces three felony counts alleging he solicited a 17-year-old boy for sex.

And in a special Republican primary for Norman's House District 46, Republican voters picked Darin Chambers over Charlie Samples and Jimmy Shannon to oppose Democrat Jacob Rosencrants on Sept. 12.


http://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/oklahoma-democrats-sweep-2-special-elections

Trump Campaign Summoned Veselnitskaya to Trump Tower in 2016, Not the Other Way Around

Donald Jr's lawyer rep'd someone convicted of the racially motivated beating of a black man in 1998

Donald Jr.'s New Lawyer Has Deep Mafia Connections

Paul Ryan: No more public town hall meetings

To avoid situations involving protesters coming in from other districts, House Speaker Paul Ryan says he will no longer hold public town halls.

The announcement came after CBS News asked when the next open town hall would take place.

"I don't want to have a situation where we just have a screaming fest, a shouting fest, where people are being bused in from out of the district to get on TV because they're yelling at somebody," he said.


https://www.aol.com/article/news/2017/07/08/paul-ryan-no-more-public-town-hall-meetings/23022091/

Spider-Man: Homecoming Open Thread. How was it? (No spoilers please)

We have tickets for tomorrow evening? How was it?

Melania Trump cant leave residence as G20 protests in Germany rage for second day

Melania Trump can’t go outside.

The first lady hasn’t been cleared to leave the Hamburg, Germany, residence where she and President Trump are staying because of violent protests at the G20 conference, according to reports.

Her representative told an NBC News reporter that the situation is “unfortunate.”

Protesters are clashing with police for their second day as world leaders — including her husband — meet at the northern German city.


http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/melania-trump-leave-hotel-room-g20-protests-rage-article-1.3308367

Hanging coffins: China's mysterious sky graveyards

Hanging coffins, as they're known, are found across a swathe of central China -- mostly in remote valleys to the south of the mighty Yangtze River, which flows from the Himalayan foothills to China's eastern coast.

The coffins rest in a variety of formations, sometimes barely visible from the ground below. They're lined up in the crevices in the cliff face, balanced on wooden cantilevered stakes, placed in rectangular spaces hewn in the rock face or stacked high up in caves like those Wong saw on his latest coffin-chasing expedition to Guizhou.

The oldest are said to be in the eastern province of Fujian, dating back 3,000 years. There's no clear reason why this practice took place.

Ancient literature from the Tang Dynasty suggests that the higher the coffins were placed, the greater the show of filial piety to the deceased. Others say the reasoning was more practical: It prevented animals from poaching the bodies and kept land free to farm.
New sites are still being discovered. In 2015, the People's Daily newspaper reported that a total of 131 hanging coffins were discovered in the central province of Hubei, placed in man made caves in a cliff 50 meters wide and 100 meters high.

"Experts haven't figured out how ancient people managed to transport the coffin, body and funeral objects -- together weighing hundreds of kilograms -- to the cliff caves," the report said.


http://www.cnn.com/travel/article/china-hanging-coffins/index.html

Auschwitz Memorial condemns GOP rep who filmed video in gas chambers

Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) is facing criticism from officials at the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum Tuesday, after he filmed a video inside a former gas chamber in the Nazi concentration camp.

According to a report by The Associated Press, officials from the memorial said the video was disrespectful and that the sign in the building asks visitors to "maintain silence."

Local Louisiana news outlets reported Higgins's video Saturday. In it, the lawmaker discusses how the gas chambers worked, using the site as an example of why the U.S. military "must be invincible."


https://www.google.com/amp/thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/340636-auschwitz-memorial-condemns-gop-rep-who-filmed-video-in-gas%3Famp