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Which high school you attend and how you compare academically relative to your peers matters, and sometimes is, if not the determining factor, then at least a very important factor in the college admission process. By the word “peers” I mean both those students around the country and the world who are going to apply to the same colleges as you, as well as those students in your school who are applying to these colleges too. There are some paradoxes and contradictions when it comes to evaluating if the particular secondary school you currently attend will benefit or hurt you in terms of getting accepted to highly selective colleges. And it will take me more than you probably want to know or read to try to cover this in ways that are not misleading or superficial.IFirst of all, it is important to note that after or during the process of evaluating your particular application, virtually every highly selective university looks at applicants within the context of the school you currently attend. Admission offices like to promote how they make decisions based upon a holistic evaluation of each individual applicant. Every admission office website underscores this part of the process and it is one way that the US admission process differs from most others around the globe which tend to use national exams to determine who gets in. In the US, colleges make it very clear that they are fully committed to enrolling a diverse student body. Diversity is one of the vaguer words in the admission process vocabulary and it has a range of meanings, but you can be sure that it applies to students from:different backgrounds and locations around the US and the worlddifferent income levels (especially if the school has committed to meeting full aid for all admitted students)different racial and ethnic groupsdifferent sexual orientationdifferent educational backgrounds (a range that covers the first in the family to attend college to having two parents with professional/advanced degrees).There are other groups that certain types of schools highlight (for example, in and out of state residents for state affiliated colleges). But not nearly as many schools put in writing that they wish to enroll students from a large number of high schools Why? Because in order to do this it might make it harder for students who attend some exceptionally good secondary schools and who might have stronger academic credentials than students from schools that rarely send students to highly selective schools (both schools in rural areas and inner-city neighborhoods would fall into the latter category).Schools do two different things when evaluating applicants—one is to read students as individuals and the other is to read them as a member of one or more groups. The former is what most people think of when they interpret the holistic admission process; the latter is often brought up in ways that show how contentious putting people in groups can be (especially by race or legacy status or athletic ability) in a country in which the national discourse often focuses on the sanctity of the individual. Colleges and universities, however, have different priorities in part because they are composed of a variety of groups and are committed to serving communities not just individuals.One group that students are put in by colleges and universities (unless they are home schooled) is the secondary school they attend. Simply put, colleges and universities evaluate and then use information about a students’ secondary school in terms of the offerings that are available and in terms of where the each student who has applied ranks against the others. Colleges run data that shows all the students who have applied from the same secondary school in a given year. In addition, some schools run historical summaries which show what the school has done with that particular secondary school’s applicants in previous years. (There is a platform that gathers data for secondary schools about their applicants to colleges, called Naviance. It uses gpa and test scores that aps on a scattergram all the decisions made on applicants over a 5-year period--accept, wait list, deny).Colleges examine students within school groups for several reasons. First of all, there are now very few highly competitive secondary schools that actually provide rank in class to colleges. By highly competitive, I mean selective private schools, boarding schools, and public schools that are located in high income school districts and which send the vast majority of their students on to 4-year colleges. The schools have found that they take too much heat from parents about tiny differences in gpa which goes into determining who ends up as the valedictorian or in the top 10% of the class. (Some schools now name dozens of students as covaledictorians --a few have over 100). This decision not to rank students is not just to give a large group of students "special snowflake" status. They also believe ranking creates unnecessary competition among the students who are already stressed out about getting the highest possible gpa now that admission to the most highly selective schools is under 10%.But here is the thing that many do not know about how colleges still manage to create its own ranking of students. Even if schools provide no information about rank to universities, students still get “ranked” in school groups. Colleges look at students’ transcripts and examine their gpa relative to other applicants so even though there is not an official ranking by the secondary school the colleges still rank students on their own. This can be helpful to the colleges for a number of reasons. Secondary schools determine gpa in very different ways. Some schools add .5 to the gpa for classes that are designated as honors and give a whole point added to the gpa for AP classes. It is no longer unusual to see students with a 3.8 gpa actually being in the bottom half of the class due to weighting. Having students group;ed by gpa lets admission officers get a snapshot of the individual student within the group as well as a snapshot of how much weighting goes into the grading system. Some schools have admission officers firt read applicants in school groups, so they see immediately where they stand compared to their peers. Others look at school groups after the application has been read by at least one or mother readers. Looking at school groups also helps the colleges to make sure they have been at least somewhat consistent in their decisions.When schools receive thousands of applications it is hard to keep track of every applicant and every decision without running reports. For example, school groups give colleges the opportunity to have another look to see why a student with a lower gpa was offered admission over another student with higher grades and testing. This helps, in some cases, avoid a call from the counselors from the secondary school after the decisions have gone out asking why a “weaker” student was offered admission/ Parents often call asking this same question, but most colleges will not address particular cases with parents. In some cases, it is clear why a student lower down in terms of gpa was offered admission--students with a special talent, a legacy tie, or who is a member of an under-represented group; or who is the first in the family attend college , or from a low-income background all might get in ahead of a student who does not have one of these so called “hooks”.While colleges all say they do not have quotas (and this is true I think) they do, however, have goals and limitations in terms of the number of students they can accept. For example, State universities have, in some cases, legal restrictions on the percentage of in and out of state residents. They must determine exactly how many students they can bring in from out of state or face budget cuts of they exceed this amount. State schools want a good representation of out of state students because typically the applicant pool is much larger (49 states vs. one) and the amount of tuition they pay is at least double those of in-state. It is always a balancing act to try to come in at just the right percentage and whether one wants to call this a quota or not this is effectively what it is.Private schools can drill down deep into data to make sure they get the mix of female and male they want. How else could Harvard, for example, come in at just about 50/50 year in and year out without running numbers and effectively picking students in part by gender. Some colleges narrow offers down by geography, so, for example, they will only offer to so many students from the Northeast or the far West etc. And more controversially, some schools have “goals” what the percentage of students they wish to enroll by race. Of course, it is not a firm quota (an exact number) but the difference between a goal and quota is often negligible. However, it is against the law to have quotas based on race, but it is not if a school has goals. A look at the percentage of Asian students at the Ives will give some sense of how virtually all these schools bring in almost the same exact percentages each year. This is not an accident and is one of the things that will likely come up in the Harvard lawsuit that is unfolding as I write this.There are no laws about giving students from a specific school or geographic location a plus or minus in the overall evaluation. For example, it is harder to get in from the Northeast to most of the colleges in Boston unless the school is what is called a “feeder school”. A feeder school is one that most have likely heard of think -- Exeter. Typically, at a school like about a third or more of the students attend top 20 ranked schools attend Ivies. Some schools benefit from having “family ties”. Boston Latin is a wonderful school and does have a number of great students. They also have a number of students whose parents are on the faculty at Harvard, and schools like to keep faculty happy. Any college will give at least a special look to students whose parents or parents work at the school.The joke that is often told in admission is that a student who attends a school in North Dakota has a much better chance of getting in than a student from virtually any school in the Northeast or West Coast. But it isn’t really a joke. Colleges do like to show on their academic profile that they have enrolled students from all or nearly all 50 States. It is less true internationally, in part because there are far more countries than States. Nevertheless, it is far harder to get into top colleges from China, India, Korea, and Singapore than it is from any other countries in the world. These countries produce thousands of students who are as good or better than any students anywhere, but colleges are not going to use up all their international slots on just a few countries any more than they are going to enroll students from a small group of States in the US. Students from some countries like Afghanistan, Syria, Honduras, The Congo, for example, would be given a huge plus in admission because so few students have the academic background to do well in a competitive college or university. Many of these students will need financial aid and only a very few US schools have aid for international students and almost all of them are the most highly selective schools.There is, however, one set of 17 schools around the world that has a unique advantage in placing students at top universities. They are called United World Colleges (UWCs for short), and they are unique places located in often less than typical campuses all over the globe (a castle in Wales, on top of a mountain in India etc.).United World CollegesEach of them has a student body who attend these boarding schools (a few offer day school options), for at least two years while completing courses in the International Baccalaureate program. Most of the students who attend these schools do so because they have been awarded need-based scholarships. Their funding comes from a variety of sources--countries, royal families, and, most significantly, a US billionaire, Shelby Davis, who has given a billion dollars to the UWCs to provide scholarships for students who to attend both the UWCs and then a select group of highly selective colleges. His funding permits schools to enroll these often-needy students without having to spend as much of its own need based funds to enroll them. Therefore, the acceptance rates of students from the UWCs to schools in the US is much higher than almost any international school and higher than most schools in the US too. Students have to be selected through a rigorous process from countries around the world especially if they need full funding.I have been to many of the campuses and the students who attend these schools often have overcome staggering odds to end up there. They have risen to the top of their countries’ education systems despite grinding poverty or war or civic unrest. Some students who can pay do attend these schools too and they often benefit both in terms of living among a truly global student body and because these schools enjoy great relationships with the top universities in the US and around the world. Students who come from these schools add a perspective that few students ever could, and this is one of the reasons they are admitted at a higher rate than students from even most of the top secondary schools. If students were truly interested in a unique secondary education and gaining an advantage in the highly selective admission process, then attending a UWC is an option to consider.IIOne of the best books I have read about the admission process is The Gatekeepers by Jacques Steinberg. I have written about it several times because even though It is a bit dated it is still one of the best inside views of the admission process I have read. It traces the way one particular admission officer at Wesleyan University does his job. One part of his job consisted of fielding phone calls from counselors from some of the top private schools who were advocating for some of their students prior to final decisions by the admission office. Colleges do not like to talk much about this because it smacks of elitism and favoritism. In one particular case a counselor advocates for a student who was on the borderline for Wesleyan and the call edged the student into the offer pile. And while this it is true this is clearly not fair, it does not tell the whole story.Networking is going to happen in any field and to think it won’t is willfully naïve. For example, there are national and local conferences all over the world for educators to meet and connect. The vast majority of secondary school counselors who attend these meetings are from either private schools or schools that have large enough budgets to send people to a several day conference that will end up costing thousands of dollars. Schools also host counselors on their campuses and often pay the fees for them to fly in and go to MLB baseball games etc. At one level, everyone is performing as a lobbyist. Admission officers try to get the counselors to encourage great students to apply and counselors encourage the colleges to take more of their students. Colleges usually have admission offices that are organized so that there are regional readers or deans who are in charge of a particular part of the country. The admissions officers and the high school counselors then get to know one another and build relationships some of them extending back decades. Like any form of networking ,a large part is focused on building trust. If there is trust then when a secondary school counselor makes a special case for a student there may be some flexibility in moving as student from the wait list or deny piles into the offer pile.This may sound more sinister than it often is. It could be the counselor is advocating for a scholarship student at the school who has lower testing and grades but who would be a good fit for the school. So, while this student may end up having an advantage in getting in because of this special appeal, many in education would support this less than perfectly fair process. In addition, the main figure in The Gatekeepers is a strong advocate for under-represented students. He becomes an advocate for these students and they have a much better chance of getting in than most student at even the most prestigious secondary schools in the US. But it would be disingenuous to leave things here. Counselors may contact schools to go over the school group prior to decisions going out and if the counselor has someone who is currently on the wait list they may do a quick pitch for the student. And some will also ask for students who are in the deny group be moved to the wait list just to make the decision less of a blow to the student’s ego. Some colleges do not accept these kinds of phone calls. Others do. Some change decisions based on the calls. Others don’t. But back room deals happen everywhere, and this is one part of the admission process that does favor the schools that have developed relationships and contacts.The typical narrative in the world of admission these days often highlights the gap between the haves and have nots. The gap is so wide and deep that it makes the process unfair to those who do not have the economic means to compete with those who do. Students whose parents are in the top 10% in terms of income can afford to live in neighborhoods where the schools are good, or, if they think public schools is not the best choice then they send their children to private day schools or boarding schools. In addition, they can pay for expensive test prep, summer programs, travel, access to internships, and the kind of overall support that is not possible for those who are low-income. Equal access is an ideal that does not come close to existing in the real world.As with any metanarrative that gets applied as a uniform template of a large and unwieldy group of disparate people, there is a lot of truth to this but there are also important exceptions. If we start to get granular about how each student is hurt or helped by their circumstances, then things can get complicated. There is, however, no doubt that in the aggregate, those at the top of the income pyramid attend better schools, have more support and so get, far more often than not, a dramatic advantage in selective admission process.While this is all true, it does not tell the whole story. For example, there are low income students who attend Exeter, Andover, Brearley , Lawrenceville, Harvard-Westlake etc. on need-based scholarships. These students are often the ones who have the best chance of anyone in these tony schools to get into the most selective universities, because they not only attend an elite secondary school, but also have overcome a great deal in order to be there. Colleges are committed to enrolling under-represented students like these because they clearly have the ability to do well academically and socially on any campus.Does attending a great secondary school alter one’s life chances and not just the chances of getting into a small set of selective colleges? Of course, but the changes that occur for low-income students are greater than those who are already in the upper middle class. Advantaged students typically have a strong safety net that will help them in life. Low income students who get in to top ranked colleges on full need-based scholarship will graduate without any debt and will have a chance to enter into competition for jobs on Wall Street, Silicon Valley. When 30-40 % of the students at Princeton go into the highly competitive field of consulting upon graduation it shows that where one goes to college matters and this is one of the reasons so many families and students are focused on getting into elite college—their life chances are better, in the aggregate, for their graduates.IIIIs everyone who attends a great private or manet school in a better position to get accepted to the top ranked colleges?Sort of. I often tell the story of a conversation I had with the college counselor at one of the top boarding schools in the US. Schools like this tout their 30% acceptance rate to Ivies when trying to get people to pay $60,000 a year to send their son or daughter there. I asked the counselor if he ever disaggregated that 30% and showed the prospective parents the ones who get in to those schools. And he said “of course not “. Why? Because it would not be in the school’s best interest to do so.So, I will do it. Of that 30%, a fair number of the students are recruited athletes. Not many secondary schools have hockey rinks (the school I mentioned above has 2), but all the Ivies have hockey teams and they need athlete that will make them look good against their Ivy competition. While these students are not often at the top academically they do, if they are identified as recruited athletes, have the best chance of getting into top schools. Talented athletes, especially in a few sports that are largely limited to a tiny number of secondary schools—hockey and rowing and squash being the top 3—are far more likely to get in the any valedictorian at almost any school who does not something special besides great grades, test scores and recommendations. It should not go unremarked that almost all these sports are composed of white students.In the case of rowing it is best to be female. Title 9 legislation means colleges need women rowers to help offset the large number of football players to meet the guideline that there should be equal number of male and female varsity athletes. Football is a problem because there are so many players on the team and, obviously, no female team, so rowing, which requires a number of boats and athletes helps offset football. Very few schools around the US public or private, have boathouses and crew teams. Talented athletes who attend schools with high price tags and great specialized athletic facilities reap the benefits of attending these schools.In addition, low-income under-represneted scholarship students who attend these schools are also at a significant advantage in the admission process. In most cases, these students have far better academic programs and opportunities at these schools than if they had stayed at home. And then there are, of course the legacies who get special consideration for admission at almost all of the most selective colleges. The acceptance rate for legacies at the Ivies is far higher than it is for students who does not have a hook (athlete, under-represented group). In addition, there are international students who, if the come from certain Asian countries typically end up at or near the top of the class academically. Because attending top schools in the US is a goal many of the best students in China wish to pursue and because it is seen as an edge in admission if a Chinese student attends a great boarding school in the US it is now as hard or harder to get into to top boarding schools from China than it is to get in all but the most selective colleges. They tend to come in with exceptional academic backgrounds and tend to leave with academic prizes at the end of the year along with a prestigious college to head off to in the Fall.What all this means is that the average (if this is the correct word since getting into these schools is very competitive) student who attends these top boarding schools and who wishes to get in to a top 20 school without a hook may actually be at a competitive disadvantage, in some cases, than if they had stayed at home and been a star in the local school. I would still argue that the overall experience of attending a great boarding school may be worth the investment because of the things that come with the education that do not automatically translate into being offered admission to a top 10 university.Something similar in terms of admission happens at the magnet schools that are public and paid for by taxpayers. Places like Stuyvesant and Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology have the reputation as among the best secondary schools in the US. The students who get in have been at the very top of the selection criteria and they feed off the atmosphere of learning and, typically, do amazing things in secondary school and beyond. The list of Novel winners and others who have done exceptional things who come from the New York magnet schools is long.But there are two problems that these students have when it comes to getting accepted at top schools. The first has to do with the effort of colleges to enroll students from a wide variety of secondary schools around the US. They could take a couple hundred students from each of the schools I have mentioned and all of them could compete both academically and outside of the classroom with just about anybody. But colleges want to get students who will contribute because they have different experiences and backgrounds. Therefore, schools limit the number of students they will take from even the best schools.To give just one example, I will use information about students at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology in Fairfax Virginia. I have written about this school before and have included some great comments about the experience of going there from students. It is without doubt one of the top secondary schools in the world. Although a public school, it requires everyone who wishes to attend to apply and it is not unlike the holistic process that colleges use. They accept about 17% of those who apply.There are several things worth pointing out on the profile. The first is the average test scores students earn. The SAT average, of 2200 ( or 1510, converting it from the old to the new SAT) puts the typical student above the top 98th percentile in the nation. This means in their class of over 400 students at least 200 are in the top 1%. In the admission profession many people point out that SATs are not a good predictor of academic success compared to other measures such as the transcript and grades. While this is true of scores overall, those students who score in the top 1% are far more likely to do well academically that any student who is in the top 50% or below. Most studies about the effectiveness of standardized tests to do not disaggregate test scores at the tail ends of the bell curve since it undermines the narrative that scores are not useful. But if top 1% scores do not convince people who hate the SAT that the students at TJ are better prepared than most to do well there are other factors cannot be easily dismissed.There is almost no disagreement that the two factors that are the best predictors of academic success are-- courses a student takes and the grades he or she earns during grades 9-12. The course offerings at TJ are far beyond what almost any secondary school offers. Many TJ students are arriving on college campuses several years ahead in terms of course work in the STEM fields. In fact, many TJ students arrive on campus with a lot more STEM courses than many students who attend college for four years. And the courses they take are not the whole story. They also have conducted research in ways very few secondary students do. Students have the benefit of being in a research hub, so they can get experience at start up tech firms and NIH, to name just a few.Once again, these opportunities and puts TJ students at the top 1%. When focusing on grades, however, it is hard to make a case that a TJ student has higher grades than most other students. Grade inflation is so rampant in high schools that almost 50% now earn A grades. As gpas continue to rise the ability of schools to predict success based on grades fall. In addition, more and more schools no longer rank their students. A generation ago only small private schools did not rank. Now almost all private schools and most public schools in the suburbs and upper middle-income districts no longer rank. Schools choose not to rank for a variety of reasons in part because it seems misleading to differentiate students by tiny difference in gpa that may be based on whether a student took a gym class or not and in part because the US News ranks schools based on the % of students in the top 10% and schools with great students were seeing fewer students get in because it would potentially lower the rankings.A's are on the rise in report cards, but SAT scores struggleEven though the average gpa at TJ is quite high there is still one way for their students to demonstrate have actually earned their high grades--the results of their AP exams. As the profile states, students took nearly 3900 AP exams. This is such a staggeringly large number that I would bet that it tops the total number of APs taken by all the students in certainly less than populous States. Perhaps even more impressive is the fact that 97% of the students earn grades of 3 or higher, the score that many colleges use to grant academic credit.The reason I underscore the AP numbers is that the Dean of Admission at Harvard has said that AP scores are the best predictor of success there, better even than grades and transcript:We have found that the best predictors at Harvard are Advanced Placement tests and International Baccalaureate Exams, closely followed by the College Board subject tests. High school grades are next in predictive power, followed by the SAT and ACT.Guidance Office: Answers From Harvard's Dean, Part 2Given all this data which demonstrates that TJ is at the very top in terms of preparing students to do well at any university, one would assume that this would translate into the number of students who get into the top 30 ranked schools being exceptionally high. And this is true. Sort of. (Again.)A glance at the profile show that of the acceptance rate at three of the top State Universities in the US is far higher than their average acceptance rate. For Uva-- 224/348 students were accepted (64% acceptance). the average acceptance rate for Virginia residents to Uva is 29%. William and Mary and Virginia Tech accepted 82% of TJ applicants. These colleges recognize the strength of entire student body at TJ. During my time at Uva the statistics showed that students from TJ earned the highest gpa of any school with over 10 students enrolled of any school in the world. Given that there are over 400 students from TJ at Uva this is a testament that the school has done exactly what it was designed to do—produce expectational graduates who will do well in college.Looking at a number of highly selective colleges on the profile, it is clear that they too accept TJ students at a rate that is much higher than the typical high school. Technical schools like CMU and Georgia Tech offer to over 34% of its applicant about 20 percentage points higher than the overall acceptance rates. Most of the top ranked schools acceptance rate tare twice as large as the overall rate. But there are exceptions.Princeton, MIT and U Penn offer to about 10% of the TJ applicants. For a school that specializes in STEM the acceptance rate at MIT seems especially low. What does not show up on the profile, except in an oblique way, is the acceptance rate to Harvard and Stanford. The profile only lists schools which have accepted 10 or more students. These two schools have decided there are not even 10 students at arguably the best school in the US who have earned a spot. It is more than a safe bet that the acceptance rate for these two schools from TJ is under 10%. For those who want evidence of how much demographics and geography and other factors play into admission at the most selective colleges, they need look no further than this.Many people would be surprised to learn that attending a school like this while providing a huge advantage to getting in to many top schools dos not help that much when it comes to Harvard, Princeton or Stanford. Of course, these colleges do not have an exact quota, but they will reach a point (and it is pretty consistent each year) where anyone below a certain gpa and a certain set of standardized scores on the SAT/ACT and AP exams is pretty much doomed if they are not hooked. To put it simply, non-hooked students at the most competitive secondary schools need to be at the top of the class even if the competition and academic accomplishments are, on average, far greater than at any non-magnet school. As a result, some students’ parents are choosing to keep their children from attending the magnet school; instead, they keep them in their neighborhood school in hoping that their children will be of the valedictorian who will get in instead of the person “only” in the top 5% of a school that has 150 National Merit Semifinalists. Some might call taking such a small number of TJ students a misguided policy on the part of the colleges. And many I hope would think not having a child attend a magnet school in the hopes of increasing the chances of him or her getting into an Ivy as a very bad idea.In addition, there is a very inconvenient truth that is getting a lot of attention in the media and in courtrooms. The vast majority of these students at magnet schools like TJ or Stuyvesant are, at least currently, Asian. As anyone who has read the headlines recently in the New York Times and elsewhere, there is a lawsuit against Harvard that is based on the study that Harvard itself carried out which concluded that the admission office discriminates against Asians. Opinion | Harvard Is Wrong That Asians Have Terrible PersonalitiesAt the same time, in New York, Mayor De Blasio has put forward a plan that would drastically reduce the number of Asians students who currently make up the vast majority of students at the 8 magnet schools. 75% of the students at Stuyvesant, the crown jewel of the NYC system, are Asian, even though they comprise just 15% of the overall NYC population. The new selection system will get rid of the standardized test currently used to select students and implement a percentage plan in which a set number of students automatically get in from every middle school in the city. Many have argued recently that making it more difficult for Asians, many of whom are low income --they have the largest percentage of low income students in New York City- is unjust. They spend time, money and effort to do well on the test. The test does not favor them in any way except that it rewards those who prepare for the test more than those who do not.Opinion | No Ethnic Group Owns Stuyvesant. All New Yorkers Do.I have been lucky enough to visit secondary schools around the country and the world. In most cases I have visited schools where the majority of students are motivated, the facilities are up to date, and the teachers excellent. But I have also visited schools in Appalachia, New York and other locations where fewer than 10% of the students will go on to college. In many cases I have sat in on classes and talked with students in groups or individually. There is what I would call an energy field in certain classes I have been in whether it be at one of the magnet schools in Shanghai or Singapore, or at Stuyvesant or TJ. The teachers expect students to be fully prepared and in almost all cases I have observed they are. They are focused and seem to enjoy the interaction between the teacher and their fellow students. When classes end and the hallways fill, there is an energy that is both powerful and intense in ways that I find unique and inspiring. Having students ask me questions from schools like this I come away humbled at the level of knowledge and achievement these students have already attained.On the other hand. I don't know that I have been treated so well as when I visited schools in Appalachia. People all say hi and thank me for making the effort to get there. But inside the classes many students are not engaged; some have their heads down on their desks and are asleep. I can’t really blame them. Most have already decided college is not for them and they are headed to the military or trade school. They are essentially passing time until graduation.The same can be said of students I have met at some Inner-city schools. Too often, these students are living in environments where they do not have access up to date text books or lab equipment. Some call schools like these warehouses as students do not get a chance to learn much but are kept off the streets. Nevertheless, gangs recruit heavily at these schools and these organizations have a much higher “enrollment rate” than colleges and universities. My brother taught in these schools for 25 years and his heart was broken many times when bright students gave up learning because they had to choose a gang or worry about their safety and their family.The disparities between schools exists on virtually every level, whether economic, pedagogical, cultural. One’s life choices are opened or limited by what kind of secondary school one attends. Every year there are calls for leveling the playing field and for improving education at most schools, but very little has changed in the past several generations to close the achievement gaps or create schools that can dramatically improve the chances of most low-income students.For example, If Mayor De Blasio’s New York plan is adopted, more under-represented students will likely have a chance to get the opportunity to attend the top colleges and universities. It will be similar in the same way that the under-represented scholarship students at the boarding schools and private schools will have the many of the top colleges in the US recruiting them. This will, however, come at a price of keeping out low income Asian students whose parents are recent immigrants. But most in education at secondary schools and colleges think this is a worthwhile trade off. The courts may not agree. (I will be addressing this issue in a future blog entry.) And neither does the current President. President Trump and his administration have just sent a message to schools across the US which reverses direction from the Obama administration with respect to affirmative action: “The Trump administration said Tuesday that it was abandoning Obama administration policies that called on universities to consider race as a factor in diversifying their campuses, signaling that the administration will champion race-blind admissions standards.”Trump Officials Reverse Obama’s Policy on Affirmative Action in SchoolsGiven all the politics and legal issues, things are uncertain when it comes to how and if affirmative action will survive these current challenges. If it does not, then there will be little change in terms of the composition of magnet high schools, but it is likely that in an effort to still have a diverse student body magnet high schools and selective colleges may adopt percentage plans similar to the one proposed by Major De Blasio or the one currently in place in Texas. Secondary school students in Texas who are in the top 6% of their school are automatically admitted to University of Texas. This helps to create opportunities for students of color since there are still de facto segregation at many schools there (and around the US). Taking a certain percentage at the top of the class of all high schools will mean that underrepresented students will still get in to selective state universities even if affirmative action gets struck down. This, in effect, is what the NYC city plan is about but getting rid of the test and replacing it with a percentage while the plan will dramatically alter the racial composition, it will come at the cost of pushing out low income Asian students who have done nothing wrong except for perhaps out testing everyone else.As I mentioned above, the atmosphere of a magnet school is one that mirrors the atmosphere of highly selective colleges and universities. There are very few slackers, and all have high aspirations. While this increases stress levels it also creates an environment that the alumni of Stuyvesant underscore in defending keeping the admission to the school the way it is. If the school admits students who are, for example, two years behind in terms of mathematics courses the school will have to design a two tiered system of classes and have to re-allocate already limited resources.To sum up, at long last, attending a wonderful secondary school will prepare students for success better than attending a school beset by budget woes and weak facilities and underpaid and overworked teachers. This much is obvious.But it is also true that what group one belongs to within different schools will determine a great deal when it comes time for colleges to pick students. As a parent I would always pick the best school that a child could go to and thrive in. Even if they did not get into a top ranked school they would still have the skills and the atmosphere that would foster a love of learning. Studies show that students with high grades and testing do well in life regardless of whether they attend a top 20 school.

Well, I was born on September 26, 1965 the beginning of Vietnam war.What was going on in 1965 in the United States?March 8 – Vietnam War: Some 3,500 United States Marines arrive in South Vietnam, becoming the first American combat troops in Vietnam. ... In response to the events of March 7 and 9 in Selma, Alabama, President Johnson sends a bill to Congress that forms the basis for the Voting Rights Act of 1965.1970U.S. President Richard Nixon orders an invasion of Cambodia, widening the war in Vietnam. ...The U.S. Senate repeals the Gulf of Tonkin resolution that had given Presidents Johnson and Nixon sweeping powers in the Vietnam War.The Beatles break up.Egyptian president Gamal Abdel-Nassar dies.The War in Vietnam comes to an end at the end of April in 1975 as a series of events leads to the fall of Saigon. ... After realizing that it would be impossible to defend the South against North Vietnam, the South Vietnamese president resigned and South Vietnam surrendered unconditionally to the North.1980’sThe history of the United States from 1980 until 1991 includes the last year of the Jimmy Carter presidency, eight years of the Ronald Reagan administration, and the first three years of the George H. W. Bush presidency, up to the collapse of the Soviet Union.1985’sIn world events and culture, 1985 can be characterized as heralding in the new. Windows 1.0 is released, the FDA develops a test for screening blood for AIDS, the first successful artificial heart transplant occurs, Gorbachev becomes the de facto leader of the Soviet Union, and the NES game system hits the US. Heck, even Coke was new in 1985. On the music front, this was the year of both “We Are the World” and “Live Aid.” Big singles of the year included “Rock Me Amadeus,” “Take on Me,” and “Like a Virgin.” The Golden Girls hit the small screen, while “Back to the Future,” “The Goonies,” and “Breakfast Club” hit the big screen. The world lost Rock Hudson but gained the likes of Michael Phelps and Keira Knightley.1990s1990 — Hubble Space Telescope launched during Space Shuttle Discovery mission. ...1991 — The Gulf War is waged in the Middle East, by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from thirty-four nations, led by the U.S. and United Kingdom, against Iraq.1991 — The World Wide Web is publicly debuted as an Internet service.In Bush v. Gore (2000), a divided Supreme Court ruled that the state of Florida's court-ordered manual recount of vote ballots in the 2000 presidential election was unconstitutional. The case proved to be the climax of the contentious presidential race between Vice President Al Gore and Texas Governor George W. Bush.What historical event happened in 2006?Introduction. 2006. The headlines in 2006 were marked by death, scandal and politics: 12 die in Sago Mine disaster. ...Sago Mine disaster. January 5. ...Immigration protests. April 10. ...McCartney-Mills separate. May 17. ...Enron trial. May 25. ...Al-Zarqawi killed. June 7. ...World Cup final. July 9. ...Mumbai train blasts. July 11.What significant events happened in 2010?Event of InterestJan 12 Earthquake occurs in Haiti killing approximately 160,000 and destroying the majority of the capital Port-au-Prince.Jan 12 Colombia officially leaves the recession after achieving 2% economic growth in the last quarter of 2009.Jan 14 Yemen declares war on al-Qaeda.What all happened in 2016?10 Events That Changed Us All in 2016The U.S. Presidential Election. ...The Brexit Referendum. ...The Zika Virus. ...President Obama's official trip to Cuba. ...The continued threat of ISIS. ...The Orlando nightclub shooting. ...The 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ...Standing Rock and the Dakota Access Pipeline Protests.2018 the presentThe strong civil society and democratic institutions of the United States were tested in the first year of the administration of President Donald Trump. Across a range of issues in 2017, the US moved backward on human rights at home and abroad.Trump has targeted refugees and immigrants, calling them criminals and security threats; emboldened racist politics by equivocating on white nationalism; and consistently championed anti-Muslim ideas and policies. His administration has embraced policies that will roll back access to reproductive health care for women; championed health insurance changes that would leave many more Americans without access to affordable health care; and undermined police accountability for abuse. Trump has also expressed disdain for independent media and for federal courts that have blocked some of his actions. And he has repeatedly coddled autocratic leaders and showed little interest or leadership in pressing for the respect of human rights abroad.The individuals most likely to suffer abuse in the United States—including members of racial and ethnic minorities, immigrants, children, the poor, and prisoners—are often least able to defend their rights in court or via the political process. Many vulnerable groups endured renewed attacks on their rights during the year. Other longstanding US laws and practices—particularly related to criminal and juvenile justice, immigration, and national security—continued to violate internationally recognized human rights.December 5, 2017VideoVIDEO: The DeportedA surge in immigration arrests of people living in the United States under the Trump administration is having a devastating impact on long-term immigrants with strong ties to the US.Harsh Criminal SentencingOn any given day in the US, there are 2.3 million people in state and federal prisons and jails, the world’s largest reported incarcerated population. Concerns about over-incarceration in prisons—partly due to mandatory minimum sentencing and excessively long sentences—have led some states and the US Congress to propose reforms. At time of writing, a bipartisan proposal for sentencing and corrections reform was gaining momentum in Congress, but the Trump administration had given no indication of support.Thirty-one US states impose the death penalty. At time of writing, 23 people in eight states had been executed in 2017, all by lethal injection. Debate over lethal injection protocols continued, with several US states continuing to use experimental drug combinations and refusing to disclose their composition.Racial Disparities, Drug Policy, and PolicingRacial disparities permeate every part of the US criminal justice system, including in the enforcement of drug laws. Black people make up 13 percent of the population and 13 percent of all adults who use drugs, but 27 percent of all drug arrests. Black men are incarcerated at nearly six times the rate of white men.Police continue to kill black people in numbers disproportionate to their overall share of the population. Black people are 2.5 times as likely as white to be killed by police. An unarmed black person is five times as likely to be killed by police as an unarmed white person.The Trump administration has expressed almost unconditional support for the prerogatives of law enforcement officers, scaling back or altogether removing police oversight mechanisms. The US Department of Justice began to discontinue investigations into, and monitoring of, local police departments reported to have patterns and practices of excessive force and constitutional violations.The administration reversed an order from the Obama administration limiting acquisition of offensive military weaponry by local police departments. In a speech in July, President Trump encouraged officers to use unnecessary force on suspects. Congress introduced the “Back the Blue Act,” which would severely restrict civilians’ rights to sue police officers who unlawfully injure them.Despite voicing concern over the opioid crisis, the Trump administration signaled an intent to re-escalate the “war on drugs” and de-emphasize bipartisan public health approaches to drug policy. Attorney General Jeff Sessions rescinded his predecessor’s Smart on Crime initiative, which had prioritized federal prosecutions of individuals accused of high-level drug offenses, reduced racial disparities in federal drug sentencing, and improved re-entry opportunities.Youth in the Criminal Justice SystemNearly 50,000 youth age 17 and younger are held in juvenile prisons or other confinement facilities on any given day in the US, and approximately 5,000 more are incarcerated in adult jails or prisons. Every year, 200,000 people under 18 have contact with the adult criminal system, with many children tried automatically as adults.The US continues to sentence children to life in prison without parole, although states increasingly reject its use: as of 2017, 25 states and Washington, DC had banned or did not use the sentence for children.Poverty and Criminal JusticePoor defendants throughout the United States are locked up in pretrial detention because they cannot afford to post bail. A 2017 Human Rights Watch report demonstrated that pretrial detention—often resulting from failure to pay bail—coerces people, some innocent, into pleading guilty just to get out of jail. A movement to reduce the use of money bail is growing in the US, with several states implementing, and others considering, reform.April 11, 2017VideoVideo: California Bail System Penalizes the PoorCalifornia pressures poor people who cannot pay bail to plead guilty in order to be released from jail. The system of money bail and pretrial detention also results in the unnecessary jailing of innocent people and undermines justice for all.Many states and counties fund their court systems, including judges, prosecutors, and public defenders, partly or entirely via fees and fines imposed on criminal and traffic defendants. The privatization of misdemeanor probation services by several US states has led to abuses, including fees structured by private probation companies to penalize poor offenders.Rights of Non-CitizensOne week after his January 20, 2017 inauguration, President Trump issued an executive order to suspend the US refugee program, cut the number of refugees who could be resettled into the US in 2017, and temporarily ban entry of nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries. This and later versions of the order banning entry from various countries have been the subject of ongoing federal litigation.In October, Trump signed an executive order resuming the refugee program but with new screening measures. The annual cap for refugee admissions for 2018 was set at 45,000, the lowest annual limit since Congress passed the Refugee Act in 1980.On the back of rhetoric falsely conflating illegal immigration with increased crime, Trump also moved to make all deportable immigrants “priority” targets for deportation, penalize so-called sanctuary cities and states that have limited local police involvement in federal immigration enforcement; expand abusive fast-track deportation procedures and criminal prosecutions for immigration offenses; and increase the prolonged detention of immigrants, despite evidence, documented by Human Rights Watch and others, of abusive conditions in immigration detention.In August, President Trump repealed a program protecting from deportation immigrants who arrived in the United States as children, putting hundreds of thousands of people who grew up in the US at risk of deportation. President Trump signaled he would support legislation that provided legal status for undocumented immigrants brought to the United States as children. However, in October the White House released a hardline set of immigration principles and policies—including weakening protections for child migrants and refugees—it considers necessary components of any such legislative deal.Some cities and states sought to increase protections for immigrants by creating funds for legal services, limiting local law enforcement involvement in federal immigration enforcement, and resisting efforts to defund “sanctuary” cities. Others sought to pass laws punishing such localities.In December, Human Rights Watch reported on the impact of the Trump administration on immigration policies, profiling dozens of long-term residents with strong family and other ties within the US who were summarily deported. US law rarely allows for individualized hearings that weigh such ties, and most immigrants do not have attorneys to help them fight deportation.At time of writing, seizures for deportation of undocumented people from the interior without criminal convictions had nearly tripled to 31,888 between the inauguration and the end of September 2017, compared with 11,500 during approximately the same period in 2016.Right to HealthTo date, attempts in Congress to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA)—legislation that has greatly expanded access to health care for millions of Americans—have failed. However, the Medicaid program, private insurance subsidies, non-discrimination protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, and other key elements of the ACA remained vulnerable to regulatory action by the Trump administration.The Trump administration’s opioid commission released an interim report endorsing numerous public health approaches, but did not recommend protecting Medicaid, which currently covers drug dependence treatment. The commission endorsed increased access to naloxone, the overdose reversal medication, but did not recommend that it be available over the counter, a potential game-changer in addressing the more than 90 deaths per day from opioid overdose in the US.April 27, 2017VideoVIDEO: "Miracle Drug" Naloxone Saves LivesThe US federal and state governments are taking insufficient action to ensure access to the life-saving medication naloxone to reverse opioid overdose, resulting in thousands of preventable deaths.Around 1.5 million Americans live in nursing homes, where inappropriate and nonconsensual use of antipsychotic medications—for staff convenience or to discipline residents without a medical purpose—is widespread. To date, government agencies have not taken sufficient steps to end this practice.Rights of People with DisabilitiesThe Trump administration’s proposed cuts to the ACA, which provides crucial services to people with disabilities, and a proposed rollback of accessibility obligations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, could undermine the rights of people with disabilities. In July 2017, a man with a psychosocial disability, William Charles Morva, was executed in Virginia, 2017, despite pleas from lawmakers and UN experts to commute his sentence.A 2017 Ruderman Foundation study found that one-third to one-half of all use of force by police in the US involve people with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities.Women’s and Girls’ RightsPresident Trump, his cabinet appointees, and the Republican-controlled Congress rolled back some important women’s rights protections, domestically and in foreign policy, and pledged to dismantle others. Some state governments also eroded women’s rights by introducing new laws with absurd restrictions on women’s reproductive rights. Several high-profile media revelations related to sexual harassment and misconduct reinvigorated discussions around abuses suffered by women at work and in public places.Congress passed legislation dismantling a rule protecting family planning funds in Title X, a national program that funds services to more than 4 million Americans, ensuring access to reproductive health care. The new legislation makes it easier for states to restrict Title X grants by creating eligibility requirements that could exclude certain family planning providers, like Planned Parenthood. This will leave many women without affordable access to cancer screenings, birth control, and testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections.Congressional proposals to repeal the ACA would have dealt a major blow to essential women’s health services, including by preventing the nongovernmental organization Planned Parenthood from receiving federal funding, and allowing states to limit insurance coverage for an array of essential women’s health benefits. Trump’s proposed federal budget also called for massive Medicaid cuts.Trump also issued an executive order on “promoting free speech and religious liberty,” which will cut women off from access to reproductive health services. It invites agencies to issue regulations that would allow more employers and insurers to assert “conscience-based objections” to the preventive-care mandate of the ACA, which includes contraception. Religious employers are already exempt, and religious non-profits and certain closely held corporations also have accommodations. Following Trump’s order, the Department of Health and Human Services effectively reversed the contraceptive coverage mandate by expanding exemptions to cover nearly any objecting employer.The White House announced in August that it would scrap an equal pay initiative that was to go into effect in 2018. As a result, large employers and federal contractors will not be required to provide disaggregated information about employees’ compensation to civil rights enforcement agencies. It also revoked executive orders that required federal contractors to comply with fair pay measures and a ban on forced arbitration of sexual harassment and discrimination claims. The Department of Education announced its intention to review and change guidelines on campus sexual assault, notably the Obama-era guidance on Title IX of Education Amendments Act of 1972.Several states adopted highly restrictive laws on abortion and reproductive health. These include new bans on abortion in some circumstances or other restrictive measures in Texas, Arkansas, Kentucky, Iowa, Tennessee. Some states increased efforts to deny public family planning funds to providers who also offer abortion services.Despite these significant assaults on women’s human rights, the picture was not entirely grim. Congress passed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act, which includes new protections for whistleblowers in military sexual assault cases and requires training on preventing sexual assault. Trump signed into law the Women, Peace, and Security Act of 2017, which aims to increase women’s participation in conflict prevention and security.New York State’s 2017 law reform on child marriage dramatically reduces the circumstances under which children can marry.Millions gathered for Women’s Marches in Washington, DC, and in cities around the world to demand equality and justice.Sexual Orientation and Gender IdentityIn the first five months of 2017, legislators in several states introduced more than 100 bills that would attack or undermine LGBT rights. In March 2017, North Carolina partially repealed a 2016 law requiring transgender people to use government facilities according to their sex assigned at birth and barring local governments from prohibiting discrimination against LGBT people. The 2017 provisions bar local governments from passing transgender-inclusive policies and prohibit local non-discrimination ordinances from protecting LGBT people until 2020.In April, Mississippi enacted a law protecting individuals who discriminate based on their religious convictions regarding same-sex marriage, extramarital sex, and transgender people.Tennessee enacted a law permitting therapists and counselors to decline to serve LGBT people based on their religious beliefs.At time of writing, 20 states have laws banning workplace and housing discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, while two states prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation but not gender identity.National SecurityPresident Trump made statements during the presidential campaign and once in office supporting the use of torture of detainees and other counterterrorism policies that would amount to violations of US and international law. Trump later backtracked on these proposals saying he would defer to Defense Secretary James Mattis, who was outspoken against torture, on interrogation matters.In November, the Office of the Prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) requested judicial authorization to open an investigation into alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the armed conflict in Afghanistan, including by US personnel in secret detention sites in Afghanistan and elsewhere.At time of writing, media reported that US forces interrogated detainees in secret prisons run by foreign forces in Yemen. Defense Department officials denied that abuses had occurred when US forces were present, although their statements did not preclude possible US complicity in torture. Following the reports, the Senate Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Mattis demanding an investigation into the matter. Mattis’ response remained classified at time of writing.Trump promised to keep the US prison at Guantanamo Bay open and send new detainees there. The US continues to hold 31 men at the facility indefinitely without charge, nearly all of whom have been there for more than a decade. The Obama administration failed to release five that it had cleared for release. It claimed the remaining 26 could neither be prosecuted nor released but did not adequately explain the basis for these determinations or allow detainees to meaningfully challenge them.The US continues to prosecute seven men for terrorist offenses, including the 9/11 attacks on the US, in Guantanamo’s fundamentally flawed military commissions system, which does not meet international fair trial standards. It also is holding three men who have already been convicted by the commissions.SurveillanceThroughout 2017, the US continued to carry out large-scale warrantless intelligence surveillance programs without transparency or oversight. Authorities used Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to target non-citizens (except lawful permanent residents) outside the country for warrantless communications monitoring and to “incidentally” gather large numbers of communications to or from people in the US.Section 702 was scheduled to end at the end of 2017 unless Congress renewed it; at time of writing federal appeals courts had differing conclusions about the constitutionality of certain aspects of the law.US surveillance of global communications under Executive Order 12333 remained shrouded in secrecy, with neither Congress nor the courts providing meaningful oversight. In January, the government disclosed procedures for the National Security Agency (NSA) to share data with domestic law enforcement agencies obtained by surveillance under the order. Documents disclosed to Human Rights Watch during the year revealed a Defense Department policy under the order sanctioning otherwise prohibited forms of monitoring of people inside the United States designated as “homegrown violent extremists.” The Defense Department has not revealed how it designates “extremists” or what types of monitoring may result.In May 2017, the Trump administration approved a proposal that asks US visa applicants for social media handles and accounts from the past five years as part of its enhanced vetting process. The US also continues to assert broad authority to search electronic devices and copy data at the border without any suspicion of wrongdoing.Freedom of Expression and AssemblyIn one of his last acts in office, President Obama commuted the sentence of Chelsea Manning, a soldier who had received a 35-year prison term for disclosing US diplomatic cables to WikiLeaks and endured abuse while in custody. However, the US government continued to seek the extradition from Russia of Edward Snowden, the whistleblower who revealed the scope of US mass surveillance in 2013.In June 2017, the Justice Department indicted NSA contractor Reality Winner for allegedly disclosing classified information about possible Russian government interference in the 2016 US election. Under current US law and contrary to international human rights law, Winner will not have a chance to claim that she made her disclosures in the public interest.President Trump repeatedly criticized journalists and posted comments and videos denigrating them during the year, prompting concerns over the chilling of freedom of speech. In August 2017, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern that “freedom of the press” in the United States was “under attack from the President.”Two UN experts expressed alarm about state legislative proposals seeking to “criminalize peaceful protests,” and a third described “a militarized, at times violent, escalation of force…” against protesters opposing the Dakota Access Pipeline. In August, a woman protesting at a rally held by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, was killed when a man allegedly drove a car into the crowd; the driver was charged with murder.In July 2017, the US Justice Department served a warrant on a company that hosted a website used to coordinate protests at the inauguration, demanding information that included more than 1.3 million Internet Protocol addresses that could identify site visitors.Foreign PolicyDuring his inaugural address, Trump articulated a vision of foreign policy that placed “America First,” vowing to defeat terrorism, strengthen the US military, and embrace diplomacy based on US interests. Some foreign dignitaries invited to the White House early in his presidency included those with poor reputations on human rights, including Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak, and Turkish President Recep Erdoğan.On his first full day in office, President Trump reinstated and dramatically expanded the Mexico City Policy, or “Global Gag Rule.” This strips US health funding from foreign nongovernmental organizations if they use funds from any source to supply information about abortions, provide abortions, or advocate to liberalize abortion laws. The expanded Global Gag Rule will have disastrous effects beyond previous gag rules—restricting some $8.8 billion in foreign assistance for health services such as family planning, maternal healthcare, and services to treat HIV, malaria, and tuberculosis in 60 countries.Affected organizations cannot easily replace these funds, which help prevent millions of unintended pregnancies, unsafe abortions, and tens of thousands of maternal deaths. The US government also severed support for the UN Population Fund, limiting the agency’s ability to provide life-saving care for women and girls, often in crisis zones.Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has sought to overhaul the US State Department’s structure by sharply reducing the State Department’s staffing and global role, including by requesting a 29 percent decrease in funding for the State Department and international aid.In April, the US carried out a targeted military strike on the al Shayrat Syrian airfield in response to a chemical weapons attack that killed more than 80 civilians. The April strike was not accompanied by a clear strategy for continued engagement in Syria.During his first foreign trip in May, which began in Saudi Arabia, Trump announced a US$110 billion weapons deal with Saudi Arabia, and pledged to address human rights concerns through “gradual reforms.” Secretary Tillerson voiced concern during the same trip about lack of free speech in Iran, while ignoring equally onerous restrictions in Saudi Arabia.In June, the US Senate voted 53-47 against a proposal that would have banned $510 million in arms sales to Saudi Arabia because of its role in the conflict in Yemen; a similar measure garnered only 27 votes in 2016. Also that month, the Trump administration announced it might withdraw from the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) over purported bias against Israel, among other concerns.In July 2016, the US Congress extended through 2019 its authority to freeze assets and ban visas of Venezuelan officials accused of abuses against anti-government demonstrators. In 2017, the Trump administration imposed additional sanctions on Venezuelan officials, including President Maduro, and economic sanctions that prohibit dealings in new securities that the Venezuelan government and its state oil company issue. President Trump’s August threat to use military force against Venezuela met with widespread criticism in the region.In August, the State Department announced that it had re-allocated some of Egypt’s US assistance and had frozen additional monies and military assistance, subject to democracy and human rights conditions.However, joint military exercises that had been on hiatus resumed the next day. After months of review, President Trump announced his administration’s new policy on Afghanistan, calling for more US troops, expanded airstrikes, and looser rules of engagement governing anti-Taliban combat operations. The policy also calls on Pakistan to do more to prevent terrorists from harboring there, and on India to play a more influential regional role.Speaking at the UN General Assembly in September, Trump reaffirmed his commitment to an “America First” agenda and threatened to “totally destroy North Korea,” and referred to Iran as a “rogue nation” and to the Iran nuclear deal as an “embarrassment.”The US did not publicly support calls at the UNHRC for a commission of inquiry into abuses in Yemen, but was active during negotiations and ultimately joined consensus on a resolution to create an international investigation.In November, Trump traveled to Asia, visiting China, Japan, South Korea, and Vietnam while in the region for the ASEAN summit in the Philippines. During the trip, Trump boasted of his good relations with authoritarian leaders and did not publicly comment on core human rights concerns, including the Rohingya crisis.As the fighting against the extremist group Islamic State (ISIS) in Iraq and Syria continued, the number of US airstrikes and the number of civilian casualties increased significantly with little acknowledgement by the Pentagon. Strikes also resumed in Libya and increased in pace in Somalia. Trump reportedly changed US policy for drone strikes outside conventional war zones to allow attacks on lower-level terrorism suspects in more countries, with less oversight, and greater secrecy. The CIA was reportedly granted authority to carry out covert drone strikes in Afghanistan.The Trump administration was considering withdrawing from the UNHRC, primarily because of concerns about the body's membership and its dedicated agenda item on the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Although the council's membership includes some serial rights violators, this has not prevented it from successfully addressing a wide range of human rights issues.

ON TRADEKILLED TPP$350+ billion deal with Saudi Arabia ($110 billion in arms $250 billion in trade/investment) creating 100,000’s of jobs in both countries, historic.Pulled out of PARIS ACCORDHad a major victory on sugar exports from Mexico, made Mexico drop the exports % and the amount of refined sugar. This will help our sugar industry and the US sugar mills that produce refined sugar from raw sugar.Notified Congress of NAFTA renegotiation on May 18th. Talks can start 90 days later on Aug 16th, 2017Sec Ross has slapped more than $2 billion in fines on China and Canada for illegal trade practices.U.S. Department of Agriculture has reached agreement with Chinese officials on final details of a protocol to allow the U.S. to begin the beef exports to China (6/12/17). The first beef has been imported to China (06/30/17)Renegotiations of KORUS ( South Korean )trade deal announced on 06/30/17) started per White House week of (07/14/17)The first shipment of LNG to Poland (07/08/17) per Foreign policyPres Trump attended the Three Seas summit in Central Europe to begin the opening up of energy and other economic trade between central/east Europe and the USA (07/6/17) per TimeThe United States Trade Representative released its objectives for upcoming NAFTA negotiations (07/18/17)Canceled the Cuba Trade deal done by Obama (06/16/17)Enforcement of U.S. trade law is a prime focus of the Trump administration. From January 20, 2017, through July 21, 2017, Commerce has initiated 54 antidumping and countervailing duty investigations – a 40 percent increase from the previous year. (07/21/17) per Sec Ross of Commerce.The Commerce Department will instruct U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to collect cash deposits from importers of steel concrete reinforcing bar from Taiwan in an effort to stop dumping (07/21/17)Since the Presidential Summit at Mar-lar-go, the first 100 days USA made progress on important trade issues including credit ratings, bond clearing, electronic payments, commercial banking, and liquefied natural gas. Also, this is the first time since 2003 that the Chinese have allowed for imports of American beef, (07/19/17) per Commerce and Treasury Dept.On EconomyUnemployment rate 4.4% u-3 and 8.6% U6 (for June 07/07/17)222,000 Jobs created in June per BLS (07/7/17)Stock Market at Historic Highs (Dow up 18%, NASDAQ up 21.5%, S&P 500 up 14.9% since election day as of 07/18/17)US homes prices climb at fastest pace In 3 years at an avg of 7% year over year rate per CNBC (06/06/17)Jobless claims hit 28 year low in last week of April per Labor Department.Thurs July 13th claims report also showed the number of people still receiving benefits after an initial week of aid decreased 20,000 to 1.95 million in the week ended July 1. The continuing claims have now been below 2 million for 13 straight weeks, pointing to a strong labor market. (07/13/17) per CNBCOPEC broken can no longer set prices due to USA energy production unleashed per CNN money (05/18/17)Secured $50 billion investment from Japan Japanese telecom and internet conglomerate SoftBank (12/06/16) per WAPOSecured $20 billion investment from Exxon in US Gulf coast refinery (03/07/17) per CNBCGasoline at $1.95/gallon in Central NC lowest price in 12 years. (7/23/17)Gas Prices Drop to 12-Year Low for July 2017 per AAARepealed 14 Obama regulations via CRA saving $60 billion in costs to the economy yearly per American Action Forum (04/20/17)GDP early estimate for 2nd quarter is 2.6% per commerce department. 1.2% higher than 2nd Qrt growth in 2016Federal debt is 132,273,000 billion LOWER since Dec 30th 2016 (as of 06/30/17) per TreasuryDirect - HomeFederal surplus was $182 billion at end of Apr (unexpected) per US TreasuaryConsumer confidence increased to a near 16 year high in June per CNBC (06/27/17)Small business confidence remains at highest levels in more than a decade per CNBC (07/11/17)North Dakota experiencing a boom since Dakota access pipeline finished (500,000 Barrels now flowing through pipeline per day) per AP (05/13/17)Keystone pipeline approved by State Department (03/24/17) construction ongoing…1,079,000 JOBS created since Jan1st (per BLS) 1,395,000 per ADP (07/07/17)Directed Dep’t of Commerce to streamline Federal permitting processes for domestic manufacturingLaunched United States-Canada Council for Advancement of Women Entrepreneurs and Business Leaders with Canadian PM Justin TrudeauCut 1.6 billion costs from Air Force one and F-35 airplanes.Regulatory freeze on all federal governmental agencies via EO signed (1/30/17)Making agencies cut 2 regulations for each new one. OMB reporting that as of June 2017 the real ratio is closer to 16 to 1 per Washington Examiner (07/19/17)Saw the opening of the first NEW COAL MINE IN PA in YEARS creating 70 jobs at the mine and more than 400+ supporting jobs in the community. (06/10/17) Per foxnews.Coal prices for Central Appalachian coal has increased 8.95% this year. Increasing the economy for SE OH, SW PA, VA, MD and WVAMaine unemployment at 32 year low. The State dept of unemployment forced to layoff people because of lack of claims (06/14/17) per BangordailynewsFood Stamp spending is down almost $1 billion per month and $12 billion per year per USADBlack unemployment at a 17 year low in May at 7.5% per Bureau of Labor Statistics. (06/24/17)Coal mining rose 19% in USA for first 5 months per US energy Department1st qrt GDP revised up to 1.4%USA now pumping 500k more barrels of oil per day since Dec 31st. Now at 9.3 million bpd. 3rd in the world only 1.2 million bdp behind Russia and Saudi Arabia per energy departmentUSA is the world leader in natural gas production and continues to increase productionInstitute for Supply Management says its manufacturing index rose to 57.8 last month(June) from 54.9 in May. Anything above 50 signals that factory activity is increasing (07/03/17)15 of 18 manufacturing industries posted growth in JUNE per ISM (07/03/17)The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) statistics for fiscal year (FY) 2017 show that food stamp enrollment decreased nationwide by 2.9 percent over the past year (07/05/17)Oil exports FROM the USA are running at 1.3million BPD worth more than $1.5 billion per month to the economy. Per NYT (07/5/17)Crude exports from Corpus Christi have already increased from an average of 68,000 barrels a day during the first half of 2016 to 384,000 barrels a day this April NYT (07/05/17)India-based information technology outsourcing company Infosys plans to hire 2,000 workers within for years in North Carolina and 10,000 total in USA. Infosys emphasized Thursday that the jobs created as part of its U.S. expansion would go to American workers. Per Charlotte Observer (07/06/17)Trade deficit fell 2.2 % in the month of May on higher exports and less imports. China imports dropped 6.1% and Mexico imports increased 5.8% Trade deficit for the year is still growing by about 13.1% yoy per Breitbart even with the drop in May’s numbers. It will take a while to turn the ship but the ship is turning (07/06/17)Labor participation rate 62.8% (07/07/17)In June, mining employment grew by 8,000, with most of the growth in support activities for mining (+7,000). Since a recent employment low in October 2016, mining has added 56,000 jobs. (07/07/17) per BLSFICO scores for Americans has hit and ALL time high per CNBC (07/11/17)Expedited the permitting and approval processes of Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) terminals and exports, including the approval of the Lake Charles LNG terminal in Louisiana.guidance from the Treasury Department to allow the United States to export coal.(first 6 months)Expedited new pipeline approval and production such as the New Burgos Pipeline to Mexico. (First 6 months)Updated guidance from the Treasury Department to allow the United States to export coal.Signed the Buy American, Hire American EO on (04/18/17)President Trump signed an Executive Order, making it easier for businesses to start and expand apprenticeship programs (06/15/17)FOXCONN making of LCD screens announced at White House they are investing $10 billion into new plant in WI bringing up to 13,000 high paying jobs to WI. (07/26/17)Coal EXPORTS increased by 60.3% for 2017 per US EIA data (07/28/17)US inflation at a 8 month low at 1.6% per BLS due in part to Pres Trump’s energy policy keeping gas prices low. (07/17/17)Pres Trump promoted a policy to leverage $200 billion in his budget proposal into a $1 trillion of projects to privatize the air traffic control system, strengthen rural infrastructure and repair bridges, roads and waterways. (06/07/17) per ReutersOn ImmigrationAuthorized DHS to hire 10,000 ICE officers & 5,000 border patrol agentsSecured funding for more immigration judges for deportation cases in 2017 budgetEnded "catch and release” policyICE arrests up 40% as of MayICE arrests are 75% criminal illegals as of MayIce Arrests for non criminal illegals up 150% as of May due to sanctuary cities polices making Ice go to the home instead of the court houses70%+ decrease in border crossings of illegal aliens in first 6 months per head of ICE (07/18/17)No Cuban refugees seen by Coast Guard in Apr 2017 first time in 7 yearsOpen bidding and plans submitted for the WALL. Finalists selected prototypes to be unveiled this fall per CBP official/Breitbart news. Process being held up by lawsuits on bidding process per ABC news (07/27/17)6ft chain linked fences being replaced by 20ft hardened steel fencing at border (05/04/17) per White houseMore than 3311 gang members have been arrested by ICE as of 07/25/17) per White house briefing by ICE directorThis year the U.S. has already deported 398 MS-13 gang members back to El Salvador – compared to only 534 for all of 2016 per Breitbart news (05/28/17)Texas has passed a law outlawing sanctuary cities (05/08/17)Foods stamp requests by ILLEGALS D O W N per Breitbart (05/19/17)The Trump administration has moved to reopen the cases of hundreds of illegal immigrants who had been given a reprieve from deportation by Obama (06/09/17) per ReutersPer Sec Kelly Plans are to start building the WALL by end of summer.Travel ban EO cut refugees to 50,000 limit has been reached as of 07/12/17). USA now closed to refugee without a close connection to the USAper Breitbart Sec Kelly has refused to expand H2-B visa program in FY 2017. Update 06/22/17 Sec Kelly will expand the H2-b visa program for a limited number of businesses that are in danger of failing and can’t find employment (15,000 visa) per breitbart.Pres Trump and Sec of DHS ended DAPA (06/16/17)Refugees dropped by half entering the USA in first three months of Pres Trump’s admin over Obama’s admin. (6/24/17 per Washington Times)In fiscal year 2017 so far, ICE has removed over 3311 criminal gang members, compared to 2,057 criminal gang members in all of fiscal year 2016. (07/27/17) per WhitehousePer Sec Kelly 66,000 mostly criminal illegals arrested by ICE in first 5 monthsKate’s Law passed the House (06/29/17)No Sanctuary Cities Law Passed the House (06/29/17)Illegal immigrant arrests in San Diego, Ca have more than doubled from 2016 and 2015 figures per the San Diego Union Tribune (07/04/17)In a reversal of Obama administration policy, federal prosecutors with Operation Streamline are filing criminal charges against migrants the first time they are caught crossing the border illegally. Per tucson.com | Tucson.com - Arizona Daily Star - No. 1 Tucson website for news, sports, cars, homes, jobs and breitbart (07/05/17)Refugee Arrivals Plummet in Week After Supreme Court Ruling on Trump Executive Order per Breitbart and Department of State website (07/05/17)The International Entrepreneur Rule obama era loophole was closed by DHS on (07/11/17). The rule allowed illegals to stay in the country for 2 and half years if they were “starting a business” per breitbart.ICE crackdown in Pueblo scaring some families back to Mexico per the Pueblo chieftain (07/10/17)House subcommittee includes $1.6 billion in funds for Wall in approbations bill (07/12/17) goes to full house for vote. Passed Full House (07/25/17)DHS proposes rule change to increase length (from 2 weeks to 90 days) and Distance (from 100 miles from the border to entire USA) for people to be immediately deported freeing up courts and stopping the lawfare over immigration. (07/15/17 ) per dailymailThomas D. Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, said in an interview that since Trump entered office, illegal border crossings have crashed by almost 70 percent, "an historic low," arrests inside the country have jumped 40 percent and that demands for illegal criminals in local jails has skyrocketed 80 percent. (07/18/17) per Washington ExaminerAG Sessions said one goal of DOJ is to totally end illegal immigration (07/18/17) per BreitbartThe Trump Administration is providing funding for the Texas National Guard’s efforts to assist in securing the state’s border with Mexico per Breitbart (07/18/17)Acting ICE Director Thomas D. Homan said he is going to deploy more officers and agents to “sanctuary cities” to arrest illegal criminal (07/18/17) per Washington examinerPresident Trump ordered the creation of the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement (VOICE) office at DHS, ensuring that our Government can no longer ignore the victims of criminal acts by illegal aliens. (04/26/17)Trump administration has changed the focus of a Department of Homeland Security immigrant citizenship training program managed by USCIS to “assimilation,” a significant shift from the Obama era focus on “integration.” Per Breitbart (07/28/17)AG Sessions announced new policy on Byrne Memorial Justice Assistance grants which provide $100’s of millions. The new policy refuses to give them to sanctuary cities. (07/25/17)ON LAW and ORDERAuthorities have arrested an unprecedented number of sexual predators involved in child sex trafficking rings in the United States and around the worldDOJ issues new sentencing guideline to enforce tougher laws on drug dealers (05/12/17) per DOJDOJ stops Obama’s slush funds (06/08/17) per Washington ExaminerMassive raids on gangs going on across the nationMore arrests for voter fraud in 2017 then anytime in recent history.DOJ and DHS ordered to take on transnational criminal gangs (02/07/17) per POTUS EONo tolerance for violence against LEO with a signed EO (02/07/17)Fired FBI director who is and was a nutjob.Nominated Wray for FBI director, confirmation hearing 07/12/17. Confirmed by committee, waiting for full senate confirmation (07/20/17)Nominated 21 conservative judges to the federal courtAG Sessions dismantling the Obama legal doctrine brick by brick at the DOJ per Bloomberg (06/29/17)Operation Broken Heart lead by the DOJ arrested over 1,012 sexual child predators across the nation bringing 69,000 cases against them. (06/28/17)AG Sessions has asked for an extra $26 million to hire 300 prosecutors devoted to gang violence and deportation cases per Bloomberg (06/29/17)DOJ drops case against the Washington Redskins (06/30/17) the era of Political correctness is over.AG Sessions continues to back LEO by condemned murder of NYPD on (07/05/17) calling the attack cowardly.April 13, 2017-Under President Trump, The Justice Department prosecuted two doctors and one other for practicing female genital mutilation– the first such prosecutions under a federal law passed by Congress in 1996 prohibiting the practice.June 30, 2017—The Trump Administration sent 20 ATF agents to Chicago to help the city fight gun violence.AG Sessions and Deputy AG visit GITMO to see operations and conditions in effort to frame future Trump policy on Gitmo. (07/07/17)AG Sessions and Sec Price announce the biggest ever Healthcare Fraud operation. Arresting 412 people including Doctors who have committed more than 1.3 Billion in medical fraud including opiod fraud. (07/13/17)AG Sessions/FBI took down largest dark web site Alphabay (07/20/17)Pres Trump took to twitter to push AG Sessions to drain the swamp in the DOJ/FBI week of (07/24/17)AG Sessions issued new policy on civil asset forfeiture (07/19/17) per DOJON Congressional and Executive actionConfirmed Gorsuch to SCOTUS (04/07/17)Signed 39+ Laws so farSigned more than 30+ EOPres Trump signed EO directing his interior secretary to review the designation of dozens of national monuments on federal lands, calling the protection efforts "a massive federal land grab" by previous administrations. (04/25/17)Obamacare repeal and replace passed House stuck/ Failed in Senate (07/28/17)Pres Trump admin is reviewing all regulations. At the end of June 2017 his admin have done away with 860 regulations so far saving $billions to the economy per OMB and Brietbart (07/21/17)Tax cuts and reform moving through Congress waiting on obamacare repeal. On 07/26/17 the border adjustment tax (BAT) was dropped by the House freeing up movement on tax reform.Submitted 2018 Budget that cuts spending and gives a pathway to a balanced budget in 10 years. (05/23/17)Returned power to make decisions on “transgender bathrooms” to states (02/27/17)Instituted 5-year lobbying ban for all Executive branch appointees (01/28/17)Instituted permanent lobbying ban for foreign governments for all Executive branch appointees (01/28/17)Banned aid helping foreign countries provide abortions (Mexico City Policy) (01/23/17)Formed Commission on voter fraud led by VP Pence had first meeting on 07/19/17)Returned the mission of NASA to space exploration (03/21/17)Installing aspects of extreme vetting at points of entry to the USA per State department and DHSSigned Two bills into Law on June 2nd that makes it easier for family members of slain LEO to get benefits and that helps hire Veterans as LEOSec of VA is starting process to combine the DOD and VA medical records to improve Veteran’s health. Massive shift in government policy (06/05/17)Pushing a massive overhaul of our FAA Air Traffic control (06/05/17)House votes to roll back Dodd Frank goes to the Senate (06/08/17)Senate votes for VA accountability act. Goes to House passed house 06/13/17 major victory for Trump agenda signed into law on 06/23/17Rolled out an apprentice program to train skilled works to fill 6 million open positions. (06/10/17)The U.S. Treasury Department unveiled a sweeping plan on to upend the country's financial regulatory framework, 80% of which will be done from the executive side and does not need Congress. MAGA!!!!! (06/13/17)Signed EO to reshape the education system of the USA to include votech and apprenticeships (06/13/17)Did away with rules requiring the Federal government to report on the Y2K bug 17 years after 2000.President Donald Trump signed an executive order creating an accountability and whistleblower protection office at the Department of Veterans Affairs.(04/ 27/2017)Sec Zinke moves to purge the Interior department of Obama holdovers (6/16/17 per Washington post)Energy Department eliminating the Office of International Climate and Technology22 federal agency task force formed to help the rural America fight regulations and lack of prosperity led by Sec PerdueEnvironmental Protection Agency has ended a nearly $1 million program that provided gym memberships for employees5-0 in special elections (GA6 primary, KS, MT, GA6 final election, SC)Sec Kelly dropped many “Pro-Obama Islamic groups from funding” Groups that pushed for sharia law and closed muslim communities within the USA. (06/23/17 per breitbart)TRAVEL BAN upheld by SCOTUS by 9-0 ruling. Extreme vetting will now become law of the land. (06/26/17)ScottPruitt signed #WOTUS proposed rule, supporting @POTUS order to restore the rule of law.Travel BAN now in full effect across the world. (06/29/17)Signed agreement to construct oil pipeline into Mexico per Pres trump speechOpening up LNG centers to ship LNG across the world (06/29/17)Introduced 6 point plan to unleash American energy (off shore, Nuclear, coal, NG,Oil, renewable) (06/29/17)President Trump Signs EO Reviving the National Space Council (06/30/17)Pentagon halts Obama’s transgender plan (07/01/17 per Breitbart)Sec Devos has stopped two obama regulations from going into effect which would have harmed for profit colleges. The Gainful Employment rule and the Borrower Defense rule (06/30/17)On May 4th, 2017 Pres Trump signed the Religious Freedom EO ordering his admin among other things to not enforce the Johnson amendment.Reduced White House expenses by $22 million by reducing staffing levels from Obama levels. Doing more with lessPres Donald Trump’s first-quarter salary donation will help fund the restoration of two projects at Antietam National Battlefield, Department of Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke announced Wednesday per Breitbart (07/05/117)Returned the Winston Churchill bust back to the Oval Office and Kept the Martin Luther King Jr bust proving we can respect and honor both men. Something Obama was unable or unwilling to do.Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke ordered the agency to resolve a backlog of more than 2,000 oil and natural gas permit applications for drilling on public lands per Washington Examiner (07/06/17)The Department of Veterans Affairs announced (07/07/17) 747 disciplinary actions including 526 employees who were fired since January 20th 2017 per CBS news (07/07/17) suspended 200, demoted 33 (22 of which were senior management) and per White house (07/20/17)Sec Carson of HUD announced a $500+ billion “error” in the Obama HUD’s 2015 and 2016 budgets was found by an Audit completed by the Office of Inspector General (04/08/17) per CBNHe had ordered that he gets 2 scoops of Ice Cream per CNN so might be fake news:)Working hard to get the Olympics for the United States (L.A.) (07/10/17) per POTUS twitterHouse cuts State Department funding by 17% in approbations bill (07/12/17) goes to full House for voteThe Department of Veterans Affairs has acted to increase transparency and accountability by launching an online “Access and Quality Tool” to provide veterans a way to access wait time and quality of care data. (07/20/17) per White HousePresident Trump signed legislation allowing our veterans to receive care outside of the Veterans Affairs medical system.President Trump created the Office of American Innovation to streamline and improve the Government for future generations. (03/27/17)Starting later this year, all honorably discharged veterans, no matter their branch of service, will be eligible to shop tax-free online at the Army & Air Force Exchange Service with the same discounts they enjoyed on base while in the military per AP news service (07/21/17)Pres Trump commissioned the U.S.S Ford into service, 100,000 tons of America Might. (07/22/17)Pres Trump reversed Obama policy on Trans genders serving in the military via twitter (07/26/17)House abandons border adjust tax idea in major win for Pres Trump’s tax reform push (07/27/17) major defeat for RyanPres Trump threatens to end subsidies/bailout payments to insurance companies and congressional staff if repeal and replace of Obamacare is not passed via twitters breathing new life into the repeal effort (07/29/17)In first 6 months Pres Trump has signed more than 150 EO, memoranda and proclamations per White House .gov site (07/29/17)On PoliticsPresident Trump's job approval rating in the American counties that fueled his 2016 victory stands at 50 percent, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll of these "Trump counties. (07/16/17) per NBCPPD poll from OH has Pres Trump at 54% approval to 41% disapproval (07/15/17) per PPD pollRNC continues to have record high monthly funding contributions while the DNC continues to have record low contributions (07/20/17) per all news sourcesAmericans have never felt better, 74% very happy per rasmussenreports (07/20/17)Number of registered lobbyists plunges 14% in 2017 per Breitbart (07/25/17) showing efforts at draining the swamp are getting some results.Rep Steve Scalise was released from the hospital (07/26/17) prayers answered.Pres Trump revived the tradition that Obama stopped of POTUS speaking at Boy Scouts jamboree. He spoke to 45,000 Boy Scouts (07/25/17) .Russia hoax suffered big defeat this week. Fake media not even reporting on it anymore (07/29/17)On Foreign PolicySecured a 34,000 Arab force to fight ISIS in Iraq and SyriaSent 3 carrier battle groups to NK to pressure them on nuclear program, installed THADD in SK and JapanWorking with China on NK but results are not going well as of (07/29/17).Sent Navy to South China Sea to secure sea linesFired 60 Tomahawks after a gas attack in SyriaGot the G7 countries to agree that a nation has a right to control migration and immigrationHad G7 countries agree NK was a threatHad G7 nations agree that Trade should be FAIR as well as FREE and that nations can punish non fair tradeHad NATO agree to pay more and got more countries to pay their fair share of defense pact (increasing by $10 billion contributions)Have met with more than 100 of the world leaders many at the white housePulled out of Paris Accord and freed the USA from the economic Slavery Obama sold us intoHave surrounded ISIS in Iraq and Syria strongholdsHave killed the ISIS commander in Afghanistan and reduced their strength by 2/3rd in AfghanistanDropped the MOAB on ISIS killing more than 90 ISIS fightersFirst sitting POTUS to pray at the Western WallRestarted peace process between Israel and PLOVisited the lands of the three major religions in the worldOpening of center to defeat radical Islam in cyberspace during Saudi Arabia visit. One orb to find them and in the darkness and bind them.Gave powerful speech in the heart of Islam about the need to reform Islam and drive out the radicalsHad G7 countries agree that refugees should stay as close as possible to home country and be returned when the threat is goneGot the Arab nations to cut ties to Qatar for funding terrorists, massive historic shift in diplomatic actions in the Muslim world.Started the assault on Raqqa in Syria to defeat ISIS on June 6th 2017.Got Romania to up it’s NATO funding to 2.1% of GDPHas the Special Forces helping relieve siege in Philippines.Visited Poland, gave a historic speech in Warsaw and attended the Three Seas summit (07/05/16)Pres Trump’s State department secured the release of American citizen Otto Warmbeir from NK without paying $400 million ransomPres Trump admin secured the release of American citizen, Aya Hijazifor, from Egypt Jail without paying $400 million ransom.Obama appointed Ambassador to Qatar “quit” during the biggest Crisis in Qatar’s history. What was she hiding?Gave Sec Mattis authority to set troop numbers in Afghanistan to turn the tide of the war. 06/16/17 .Rolled back Obama’s Cuban policy. 06/16/17Canada promised to increase defense spending by 70% (06/16/17)Gulf Countries sent Qatar a list of demands to defund terrorism, reject the Muslim brother hood so Qatar can return to the fold, direct consequence of Pres Trump’s trip to the Middle East. Qatar has since rejected these demands setting a possible military conflict (updated 06/30/17). Sec Tillerson is working hard to solve crisis diplomatically (07/11/17)NATO countries (excluding the US) increase defense spending by 4.3% from last year per daily mail and breitbart(06/30/17).Per Iraq military Mosul has fallen. ISIS no longer controls the city. Just a couple pockets of resistance left per independent (06/30/17) PM of IRAQ declares the complete pacification of the city (7/09/17)Imposed Sanctions on major China Bank for its funding of North Korea and has declared the admin will work to cut North Korea off from access to the US financial market. (06/29/17)Approved a $1.42billion arms deal with Taiwan (07/02/17)Reached out by Twitter to offer help to save baby Charlie Gard and has started the conversation on Baby Charlie’s fate. (07/03/17). UK refused to allow Baby Charlie to leave and he died on (07/28/17)The US ambassador to the UN threatens China and other countries that trade with North Korea with blockage from the USA market. (07/05/17)Pres Trump also increases the threat to use trade access to the US market to stop North Korea setting up a potential for a trade war with China and other nations (07/05/17)Gave a major speech in Warsaw Poland to a crowd of thousands reaffirming Western Civilization (07/6/17)Pres Trump has had 50% more meetings with foreign leaders than Pres Obama did during the same time period. Per Breitbart (07/06/17)US, Russia, and Jordan announce ceasefire in Southern Syria (07/07/17) Cease Fire still holding as of (07/29/17)OLD City walls in Raqqa were breached by US led forces on July 4th 2017. Less than a month after the battle for Raqqa began. Per Economist (07/07/17)Pres Trump got three major victories in G20. Trade he had the G20 agree that nations can protect themselves from unfair trade. He got them to agree a nation has control over their borders and can control immigration and migration. He stood firm on the climate hoax known as the Paris accords and included the importance of fossil fuels. Per the G20 communiqué (07/08/17)U.S. President Donald Trump on Saturday promised $639 million in aid to feed people left starving because of drought and conflict in Somalia, South Sudan, Nigeria and Yemen. (07/08/17) per ReutersSec of State signed a counter terrorism funding agreement with QATAR giving Pres Trump and the Gulf allies major victory and moving along the impasse in the region to a hopeful peaceful solution (07/11/17) per state. GovVisited France to hold bilateral meetings and take part in Bastille day marking the 100th anniversary of the USA entering WW1 (07/13/17)President Donald Trump has sent out another clear message on the worsening political and humanitarian crisis in Venezuela, promising “strong and swift economic actions” should socialist leader Nicolás Maduro push ahead with plans to create a non-elected “constituent assembly.” (07/18/17) per BreitbartPresident Trump has lifted restrictions that had prevented the Secretary of Defense and our commanders in the field from fully using their judgement and expertise. (07/20/17)The United States sanctioned sixteen entities and individuals that have supported Iran’s military and Revolutionary Guard Corps in the development of drones, fast attack boats, and other military equipment.(07/20/17) per WhitehouseThe Department of the Treasury sanctioned over 25 entities and individuals involved in Iran’s ballistic missile program, ensuring our ability to monitor potentially malicious actors while preventing future acts of terrorism. (07/20/17)The US has refused to pay $350m in military aid to Pakistan because it is not tackling terrorism, the Pentagon has announced (07/21/17) per FTimesState Department official in charge of diplomatic security bureau resigned. He was in charge during Benghazi (07/26/17) per WAPO . This continues the exodus of Obama/Clinton holdovers at State. Sec Tillerson has down a major effort to reform the Dept of State over the last several months, including firing the entire “7th floor of State” containing the entire senior Clinton/obama admin team on (1/26/17)