Respect.

I'm a nit-picker - sorry, that's just the way I am. Following the terrible events in Bradford yesterday, there were pictures on the news this morning of a flag at a police station being flown at half-mast. Except it wasn't - it was being flown halfway up the flag-pole, which shows a complete misunderstanding of what "half-mast" is all about. It's origins are lost in the mists of time, and it's not clear whether it started on land or (more probably) at sea, but what is clear is that, when A defeated B in battle, A would hoist their flag on B's flagpole, with B's own flag underneath. This served two purposes - it was a declaration of victory by A, but it was also a recognition of defeat by B - effectively a signal saying to their fighters and supporters "Give it up lads, it's over, we've lost", and thereby hopefully saving any unnecessary slaughter by people fighting on for a lost cause. So when you fly a flag at half-mast, you are essentially B flying your flag below the invisible flag of death, or fate, or whatever. So it should be flown one flag-width or so below the top of the pole - the official line on government flagpoles is two-thirds of the way up, with at least the width of the flag between the top of the flag and the top of the flagpole.
Like I say, this is nit-picking. My thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of the WPC who was killed.