Musical Moments: Seger, Night Moves

A classic...

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

Today's selection is Bob Seger's classic, Night Moves:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BFRVegQZ_r0

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:

Darien First Half 2018 Real Estate Results Mixed.

Darien Real Estate Finishes Busy Week

Weekly update...

Multnomah Falls, Oregon.

Darien's residential real estate market finished another busy week today.

Results, according to the Darien MLS, were:

-- Eight new listings of property for sale;

-- 17 price changes;

-- Six accepted offers;

-- One property going under contract, and

-- Eight closings.

For more: 

Next time on The Allen Report:

Musical Moments: Seger, Night Moves.

The Extraordinary Bel Air Mansion Nobody Wants to Buy

Reduced from $250M to $188M...

A unique mansion in Bel Air has it all and then some.

In January 2017, a new house built on speculation in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles came on the market asking an earth-shattering $250 million, Dennis Green reports on businessinsider.com.

According to its website, that made it the most expensive house ever listed in the United States, Green wrote. 

Fast forward to April 2018, and that house has returned to the market with a reduced price of $188 million. It no longer boasts the title of the most expensive on the market, but with a price that high, it is certainly up there, Green wrote.

For a look at an extraordinary property: http://www.businessinsider.com/250-million-mansion-in-bel-air-comes-with-crazy-perks-2017-1?utm_content=buffere4f76&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer-bi

Dining with a city-scape view.

A lounge area.

The wine room.

The house includes a helicopter that doesn't fly.

The extraordinary mansion from above.

Photos: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:

The Latest Darien Real Estate Update.

Soccer Star Lisa Zimouche's Fancy Footwork Will Amaze You

A million followers on Instagram...

Lisa Zimouche draws a crowd to watch a world champion soccer sensation.

Former World Cup winner Ronaldinho and Manchester United midfielder Paul Pogba both exhibit skills that pay the bills -- but both footballers have been given a run for their money by teenage sensation Lisa Zimouche, Alan Dawson reports on businessinsider.com.

Zimouche is an outstanding freestyle football talent, Dawson wrote.

She joined the Paris Saint Germain women's youth team, but left at age 14 as she preferred freestyling, and wanted to develop her skills further on the streets, he added.

For more on an amazing young woman, including videos: http://www.businessinsider.com/18-year-old-freestyle-football-star-lisa-zimouche-is-blowing-up-on-instagram-2017-9

For a new video of Lisa's fancy footwork: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gzh39BCoAjk

Photo: Giphy, Tumblr.

Next time on The Allen Report:

The Extraordinary Bel Air Mansion Nobody Wants.

Boeing: New Plane Cuts New York-London Run to Two Hours

New hypersonic jet could cross the Pacific in three hours...

Boeing's new concept of a hypersonic airliner could fly nearly 4,000 mph.

Boeing today joined the race for a new Concorde replacement with the announcement of a concept for a hypersonic airliner capable of speeds up to Mach 5 -- nearly 4,000 mph, Henry Holloway reports on dailystar.co.uk.

That's almost three times faster than the legendary supersonic Concorde, which was decommissioned in 2003, Holloway wrote.

Boeing's new plane would be able to cruise at 95,000 feet, which is 30,000 feet higher than Concorde.  It could fly from New York to Paris in two hours and cross the Pacific in three hours, he added.

For more: https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/712276/boeing-hypersonic-plane-concorde-airliner-new-york-london-mach-5-plane-future/amp

Photo: dailystar.co.uk

Next time on The Allen Report:

Lisa Zimouche's Fancy Footwork Will Amaze You.

How Putin Corralled Russia's Secret Services

"Improving labor discipline"...

Vladimir Putin.

In April, a series of protests hit the Moscow region, Andrei Soldatov reports on foreignaffairs.com.

They were neither overtly political  --  citizens were protesting toxic landfills in their neighborhoods -- nor very numerous, comprising, at most, a few thousand people in a region of over seven million, Soldatov wrote.

At their peak, people took to the streets in nine towns surrounding the city, he added.

One week after the protests started, an official from the Serpukhov district, Alexander Shestun, was invited to the Kremlin.  There he met with Ivan Tkachev, a general from the Federal Security Service (FSB), Russia's powerful intelligence agency and the successor to the Soviet-era secret police, the KGB.

Apprehensive about the meeting, Shestun decided to secretly record the conversation, which he later posted on YouTube, Soldatov wrote.

In the recording, Tkachev threatens Shestun. "You will be steamrolled if you don't resign," he says.  "You will be in prison.  Like many before you, you don't understand, it's a big (purge), Soldatov added.

For more on a fascinating new report on how Putin has consolidated his power over Russia's secret services: https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/russia-fsu/2018-05-31/putins-secret-services?cid=int-fls&pgtype=hpg

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:
Boeing: New Plane Cuts New York-London Run to Two Hours.

Here Comes Your New Week

Enjoy...

Nothing beats the view from the cat bird seat.

For fun videos to start your new week:

-- Oreo: Dunk Shot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6CKP47CIQw

-- ESPN: Shaq Playing Scrabble: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lfg0--GbjVI

-- Old Spice: Ambassador: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNlCoA36XoE

-- GEICO: Camel on Hump Day: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/7ZUh/geico-camel-on-hump-day

-- GEICO: Running of the Bulldogs: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wqVp/geico-running-of-the-bulldogs

-- GEICO: Soccer celebration:  https://www.ispot.tv/ad/ddrz/geico-soccer-celebration

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report: 

How Putin Corralled Russia's Secret Services.

Musical Moments: Vivaldi, Summer

Wonderful...

Relaxing by the Trevi Fountain on a summer day.

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

Today's selection is Vivaldi's wonderful Summer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g65oWFMSoK0

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:

Here Comes Your New Week.

Darien Ends Busy Real Estate Week

Weekly update...

Summer in Paris.

Darien ended a busy week today with new listings and price changes continuing to lead  residential real estate results.

Results, according to the Darien MLS, were:

-- 10 new listings of property for sale;

-- 25 price changes;

-- Four accepted offers;

-- No properties going under contract, and

-- Eight closings.

For more: 

Next time on The Allen Report:

Musical Moments: Vivaldi, Summer.

Taxpayers in the Hamptons Exposed to Rising Seas

New Jersey and Florida "have the most to lose"...

Rising sea levels due to climate change may alter the lives of thousands.

Almost no city stands to lose as much money from climate change as Southampton, New York, Danielle Moran reports on bloomberg.com

The affluent Long Island suburb -- where the medial price of a home for sale is almost $2 million -- has the second highest level of property tax revenue at risk among municipalities with the likelihood of chronic flooding in the next twelve years, Moran wrote.

Only Central Coast, California, had more, she added.

For more of a timely report on what rising seas due to climate change could mean to thousands:  https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-19/taxpayers-in-the-hamptons-among-the-most-exposed-to-rising-seas?utm_campaign=news&utm_medium=bd&utm_source=applenews

Photo: Tumblr.

Next time on The Allen Report:

The Latest Darien Real Estate Update.

Why Accepting Refugees is a Win-Win-Win

On World Refugee Day...

This World Refugees Day, I want to challenge what seems to be the conventional wisdom regarding refugees, Dany Baher reports on brookings.edu.

Not only are refugees not a burden, rather they are welfare-enhancing assets, Baher wrote.

Indeed, accepting, protecting, and empowering refugees is a win-win-win formula: for the refugees themselves, for the country or destination, and for the country of origin.

For more of a timely report: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2018/06/19/refugees-are-a-win-win-win-formula-for-economic-development/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=global

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:

Taxpayers in the Hamptons Among the Most Exposed to Rising Seas.

'At Least During Internment...'

What it's like sending a five-year-old to an internment camp...

Left, a Japanese-American woman with her daughter preparing to leave for an internment camp in 1942.  Right, Japanese-Americans at the Assembly Center at Santa Anita Racetrack near Los Angeles in 1942.

Imagine this scene: Tens of thousands, mostly families with children, are labeled by the government as a threat to our nation, George Takei, star of Star Trek reports on foreignpolicy.com.

(They) are used as political tools by opportunistic politicians and caught in a vast gray zone where human rights are erased, he wrote.

Thousands are moved to makeshift detention centers and sites.

That is America today, he noted.

For more of a timely report: http://foreignpolicy.com/2018/06/19/at-least-during-the-internment-are-words-i-thought-id-never-utter-family-separation-children-border/

Photo: foreignpolicy.com

Next time on The Allen Report:

Why Accepting Refugees is a Win-Win-Win.

New Q Poll: Stop Taking the Kids

New Quinnipiac poll results on separating children, Dreamers and The Wall...

Another White House inspired immigration crisis.

American voters oppose 66-27 percent the policy of separating children and parents when families illegally cross the border into America, according to a new Quinnipiac University Poll.

They also support 79-15 percent allowing immigrants who were brought to the U.S. as children, so-called "Dreamers," to remain and ultimately apply for citizenship.

And they oppose building a wall along the border with Mexico by 58-39 percent, according to the new poll.

For more: https://poll.qu.edu/search-releases/search-results/release-detail?ReleaseID=2550&What=&strArea=;&strTime=28

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:

'At Least During the Internment...'.

How a Fund Raiser Aimed at $1,500 for Immigrant Families at the Border Netted Over $5 Million

130,000 people responded within three days...

A two-year-old Honduran child cries as her mother is detained near the U.S.-Mexico border. The photo led a California couple to start a Facebook fund-raising page to help immigrant families in Texas.

It all started with a viral photo of a toddler crying as her mother was detained at the border, Julia Jacobs reports on nytimes.com.

Charlotte and Dave Willner saw it on the Internet, like so many other people, and responded by starting a fund-raising page that would rapidly become the largest single fund-raiser in Facebook history.

For more of timely story: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/us/raices-charity-border-immigrants.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

Photo: nytimes.com

Next time on The Allen Report:

New Q Poll: Stop Taking the Kids.

Can You Fix the National Debt?

Play "The Fiscal Ship" and see...

The Fiscal Ship has been named one of the top games at the Serious Play Conference.

All along the campaign trail, presidential candidates continue to make promises they can't keep, brookings.edu reports.

They promise to give voters trillions in tax cuts while also balancing the budget and protecting popular programs from budget cuts, brookings wrote.

Fact-checking journalists and spreadsheet-wielding advocates of fiscal responsibility challenge those assertions, but reach a small slice of the population.

So we asked: What else can be done to communicate the scale and scope of the debt problem?

To start with, we made a game, brookings noted.  Whimsical, but grounded in fiscal facts, "The Fiscal Ship" allows players with little background in the budget to come up with their own plan to stabilize the debt without compromising their values.

Like to try your hand at the game? https://www.brookings.edu/events/can-you-fix-the-debt-play-the-fiscal-ship-at-brookings/

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:
How a Fund Raiser Aimed at $1,500 for Immigrant Families at the Border Netted Over $5 Million.

For House Flippers, Reality Meets Reality TV

Harder than it looks on tv...

A California backyard transformed on HGTV's popular Flip or Flop show.

Watch enough HGTV and flipping houses starts to look easy, Ronda Kaysen reports on nytimes.com.

Just talk to Joshua Levitt, who spent the better part of 2014 sitting on his couch in South Orange, N.J., watching shows like "Flip or Flop" and taking notes as the charismatic stars frenetically bought distressed properties and, with the right mix of of anxious looks and Carrara marble, successfully flipped one by the end of every episode, Kaysen wrote.

Then Levitt decided to try his luck and bought a vacant house.  "It was a disaster," he said.

For more about the pros and cons of house flipping: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/15/realestate/for-house-flippers-reality-meets-reality-tv.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:
Can You Fix the U.S. Debt?

Your New Week is Here

Enjoy...

For fun videos to start your new week:

-- Allstate: Mayhem, Commercial Lawns: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m04FMgYKzK4

-- Allstate: Mayhem, Tailgate Grill Fire: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MW1KtwEwVw

-- Allstate: Mayhem, Blind Spot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnduNEc-Be4

-- GEICO: First Date Surprises: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dArk/geico-first-date-surprises

-- GEICO: Too Loud: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/dwK4/geico-too-loud

-- GEICO: Parents Go MIA: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wAnk/geico-motorcycle-parents-go-mia-song-by-canned-heat

-- GEICO: The Gecko Visits Coney Island: https://www.ispot.tv/ad/wf6w/geico-the-gecko-visits-coney-island

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:

For House Flippers, Reality Meets Reality TV.

Musical Moments: Simon, Nobody Does it Better

A classic...

Musical Moments features music and artists I've enjoyed over the years.

Today's selection is Carly Simon's classic, Nobody Does it Better: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ht8gzvrsDfE

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:
Your New Week is Here.

Darien Builds, Adjusts Real Estate Inventory

Weekly update...

McWay Falls along Big Sur.

New listings and price changes led Darien residential real estate results in the  week ending today.

Results, according to the Darien MLS, were:

-- 12 new listings of property for sale;

-- 27 price changes;

-- Three accepted offers;

-- No properties going under contract, and

-- Four closings.

For more: 

Next time on The Allen Report:

Musical Moments: Simon, Nobody Does it Better Than You.

A Stunning Slow Motion Machine With a Secret

How does it work?

The feather you see looks like it's moving in slow motion, Elizabeth Stinson reports on wired.com.

It's not.  In fact, it's moving rather quickly, Stinson wrote.

For an interesting report about an intriguing machine that can visually trick you: https://www.wired.com/2016/08/slow-motion-machine-stunning-almost-dont-want-tell-works/?mbid=social_facebook_aud_dev_kw_paid&kwp_0=828894&kwp_4=2837968&kwp_1=1203597

Photo: wired.com

Next time on The Allen Report: 

The Latest Darien Real Estate Update.

Honoring Old Glory

Happy Flag Day...

Long may she wave.

For an interesting history of the American flag: http://www.pbs.org/a-capitol-fourth/history/old-glory/

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:

A Stunning Slow Motion Machine With a Secret.

Why Kim Jong-un Will Not Give up North Korea's Nukes

Empty words from North Korea?

North Korea's Kim Jong-un and President Trump meet in Singapore.

President Donald J. Trump's upcoming summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will be an historic encounter between two supremely self-confident, headstrong, and mercurial men, each seeking the other's surrender, Evans J. R. Revere wrote recently on brookings.edu.

The irresistible force of Donald Trump, whose administration has declared it will never accept, allow or tolerate a North Korean nuclear threat to America, will soon meet the immovable object of a North Korean regime that has declared it will never give up its nuclear weapons "even in a dream."  What could possibly go wrong, Revere asks.

President Trump agreed to the summit on a whim, surprising his advisers and the South Korean envoys who conveyed Kim Jong-un's invitation.  Had he discussed the invitation with his advisers first, he would have heard that Kim's reported interest in a deal on "denuclearization of the whole Korean Peninsula" is nothing of the kind, Reveres wrote.

For more of a timely analysis of the North Korean issue: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2018/04/09/kim-jong-un-will-not-give-up-north-koreas-nuclear-weapons/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook&utm_campaign=fp

Kim Jong-un and President Trump shaking hands during this week's summit in Singapore.

Photos: Reuters.

Next time on The Allen Report:

Honoring Old Glory.

The Truth About a High Protein, Low-Carb Diet

The risks of too much protein...

Want to lose weight?  Try some exercise.

Widely publicized diets, such as high protein and low carbohydrates, seem so promising, Lauren Cooper reports on consumerreports.org.

But does science support the claims, she asks.

We spoke with doctors and dietitians, read the research, she wrote.

Here's what you need to know: https://www.consumerreports.org/diet-nutrition/truth-about-a-high-protein-low-carb-diet/

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:
Why Kim Jong-un Will Not Give up North Korea's Nukes.

Moguls and Killer Robots

Beware of unintended consequences...

...And lying serpents.

Mark Zuckerberg thought his fellow Silicon Valley billionaire Elon Musk was behaving like an alarmist, Cade Metz reports on nytimes.com.

Mr. Musk, the entrepreneur behind SpaceX and the electric-car maker Tesla, had taken it upon himself to warn the world that artificial intelligence was "potentially more dangerous than nukes" in television interviews and on social media.

For more on the serious, ongoing debate about artificial intelligence:  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/09/technology/elon-musk-mark-zuckerberg-artificial-intelligence.html

Photo: nytimes.com

Next time on The Allen Report:
The Truth About a High Protein, Low-Carb Diet.

The U.S. Regains World's Fastest Supercomputer Title

Powered by IBM...

Thomas Zacharia, director of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory, 

with the Summit supercomputer.

The United States just won bragging rights in the race to build the world's speediest supercomputer, Steve Lohr reports on nytimes.com.

For five years, China had the world's fastest computer, a symbolic achievement for a country trying to show that it is a tech powerhouse, Lohr wrote.

But the United States retook the lead thanks to a machine, called Summit, built for the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee, he added.

For more: https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/technology/supercomputer-china-us.html?smid=fb-nytimes&smtyp=cur

For more from IBM about Summit and its mind-boggling capabilities: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/summit-supercomputer/?cm_mmc=PSocial_Facebook-_-Corporate%20Advertising_Pillars-_-US_NA-_-25227900_Tracking%20Pixel&cm_mmca1=000027JP&cm_mmca2=10006704&cm_mmca4=25227900&cm_mmca5=53182093&cm_mmca6=07ec563c-50cb-433c-9054-7010e4765eff&cvosrc=social%20network%20paid.facebook.Discover%20Visits%20LP%20Sponsored%20Content%20%20%20%20%20Interests%20%20%20%20%20Facebook%20Supercomputer%20Tag%203_Prospecting_DesktopMobileTablet_1x1&cvo_campaign=000027JP&cvo_pid=25227900

For a cnet report on the new supercomputer: https://www.cnet.com/news/ibms-world-class-summit-supercomputer-gooses-speed-with-ai-abilities/

For a techcrunch report: https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/08/ibms-new-summit-supercomputer-for-the-doe-delivers-200-petaflops/

 Photo: nytimes.com, Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report:
Moguls and Killer Robots.

Enjoy Your New Week

Fun...

Ouch. But she's riight back up and at 'em. 

-- Whole Foods: Pastabilities; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gg38LJYekh8

-- Nespresso: George Clooney: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4jIsYN0R34

-- Booking.com: Watersports: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k445QuZfp5w

-- Etrade: This is Getting Old: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d56-22bpyh0

-- BMW: Wedding:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpC2djFgv8U

-- WSJ: In the Elevator with Shaq: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8SyYiB5UA4

Photo: Pinterest.

Next time on The Allen Report: 
The U.S. Regains World's Fastest Supercomputer Title.