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Read more: www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/rules-...#uRIkui4abHri7RY2.99While many American Olympians who win gold in Rio place their right hands over their hearts when listening to "The Star-Spangled Banner" on the podium, others do their own thing. Take Michael Phelps, who after winning the 200-meter butterfly earlier this week stood on the podium with his arms by his side, almost overcome with emotion (and then laughter) as he accepted his 20th career Olympic gold medal.
What the Olympians probably don't realize, however, is that the U.S. Flag Code calls for anyone addressing the flag, either during the Pledge of Allegiance or the national anthem, to put their right hands over their hearts. But there's no orientation lesson from the U.S. Olympic Committe that mandates how athletes should appear, which shouldn't be surprising, as Mark Dyreson, Penn State professor and Olympic scholar, tells Bill Plaschke for The Los Angeles Times. This omission is thanks to the rich tradition of freedom of expression in this country. Or, as Dyreson puts it, “In the United States, free speech trumps all.”
But where did the idea to regulate the way Americans choose to respect the flag come from, anyway? As it turns out, the U.S. Flag Code dates back to the not-too-distant year of 1942. The decision to enact began with the Pledge of Allegiance—a ritual that used to involve a salute that required you to raise your right hand, flip your palm down, point it toward the flag in a salute and recite the words. These instructions might seem unthinkable today for obvious reasons—they’re reminiscent of rows of Nazis saluting their Fuhrer. But believe it or not, they date from the beginning of the Pledge itself.
“Kaepernick, along with the other 2017 Community MVPs, will also become eligible for this year’s Byron Whizzer White Award, which is the highest honor that the NFLPA can bestow upon a player.”
The award has been given away on a weekly basis for a few years now and anybody who is a dues-paying member of the NFLPA and either on a current roster or actively seeking employment in the NFL is eligible to receive the honor. But Kaepernick winning the award as a free agent is a first.
In the NFL today, players make an impression on their fans in many ways. Kids want to throw passes like Brady, make spectacular catches like Beckham, and break tackles like Lynch. Most fans don’t realize that off the field, their favorite players make a substantial impact through their charitable foundations; working to change lives for the thousands. The following is our list of the top ten NFL player foundations and the great works being done by these men and their organizations.
Off the Field is the national football player wives association comprised of talented and diverse wives of active and retired professional football players. Our mission is to unite and empower our members to perform and support philanthropic initiatives that enhance the quality of life for families in our communities.
Established on February 16, 2006...The purpose of the OTF is to have an alliance of women within a network who are fully committed to collectively affect change within themselves as well as their surrounding communities.
Through its dedication to create awareness of children and family needs in communities, and raise funds for local and national charitable organizations that emphasize strengthening the family unit, OTF has contributed more than $850,000 to various charitable organizations since its inception.
The follow up to this story, of course the cop was found not guilty of violating procedure; however, a civilian board disagreed with that assessment. Civilian board takes KPD chief to task over treatment of black woman by off-duty officer.It’s still hard for me to believe that last month I almost became a hashtag — another black person gunned down by a panicky cop.
I don’t have a criminal record.
I shop at Trader Joe’s.
I’m college-educated.
I’m a woman.
As I stared at the officer nervously pointing his gun at me, I realized immediately what he saw: a black person who had no business being in his neighbor’s driveway.
I turned to check on Hunter, a high school intern from Oregon who was staying with my family for a few weeks, but she was on the phone.
“Someone was just shooting on the beach,” she said, between gulps of air, to the person on the line.
Unable to imagine whom she would be calling at that moment, I asked her, somewhat indignantly, if she couldn’t have waited until we got to safety before calling her mom. “No,” she said. “I am talking to the police.”
My friends and I locked eyes in stunned silence. Between the four adults, we hold six degrees. Three of us are journalists. And not one of us had thought to call the police. We had not even considered it.
We also are all black. And without realizing it, in that moment, each of us had made a set of calculations, an instantaneous weighing of the pros and cons.
"The message that is being sent is, if you are black, all the police officer has to do is say they were in fear of their life and they get away with murder because the victim (is) black," the local NAACP said in a statement.
US prosecutors have found it difficult to convict police officers in high-profile shooting cases involving black victims - despite recent incidents being captured on video.
Anger over the failure to find the officers guilty has sometimes boiled over, leading to violent protests.
According to the Guardian newspaper's The Counted database, at least 1,092 people were killed by police in the United States last year.
Nearly a quarter of those killed were African Americans although the group accounts for roughly 12 percent of the total US population.
According to a watchdog group The Sentencing Project, African American men are six times more likely to be incarcerated than white men.
It appeared to have all the ingredients for protests, hashtags and calls for justice on 24-hour cable news channels.
An unarmed black man lying on the ground was repeatedly tasered by a police officer. Then he turned over and was put in what looked like a chokehold. He lost consciousness. After being rushed to the hospital, he was pronounced dead.
There was video. There were witnesses. There has been plenty of local media coverage.
But unlike other cases, the death of Tashii Brown on the Las Vegas Strip early Sunday morning at the hands of Officer Kenneth Lopera has barely made a blip nationally — or on the local streets.
Tod Story, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union in Nevada, said he believed the calm could be directly linked to reforms adopted by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police starting five years ago.
The city was the first in the country to voluntary undergo “collaborative reform” in 2012 under the Department of Justice’s community policing office. Federal officials have since pointed to it as proof that tools and practices like body cameras, deescalation tactics and training on subconscious racial bias are key to solving some of the problems that have pitted law officers and communities against one another across the country.
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[/quote]ScienceChic wrote: So while it is against flag code guidelines to wear the flag as clothing, nonetheless, you see many people, conservatives especially, doing so. Obviously they do not perceive it as disrespectful despite the fact that it is specifically called out in the flag code not to. Are you offended by that when you see it? If not, then why not?.[/b]
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