Blake Schwendiman's Blog and Blook

Is the system breaking, broken or are we just hearing about it more?

1. Cyclist Tased at Minnesota Airport

I was instantly and with absolutely no verbal warning whatsoever attacked from behind and thrown to the ground. I received wounds to chin and arm. The impact put a new casing crack on my helmet. My glasses were thrown off by the impact and bounced several feet away. The bicycle continued to roll forwards a few feet, coming to a stop in the center of the road. (A gold van would later have to stop, because the bike was crumpled in the middle of the one lane road.) Officer Wingate then came up behind me and jerked me up into a standing position. I then heard him yell an order to Officer Bryant- 'Shoot him!'. Officer Bryant then shot me with the taser. I fell uncontrolled to the pavement for the second time, experiencing the full force of a weapon that can only be considered barbaric.

2. The Sippy Cup Incident

Federal security officials took the unusual step yesterday of posting an incident report and security camera footage on their Web site to counter allegations that screeners and police officers at Reagan National Airport mistreated a mother and her toddler this week. At issue is whether Monica Emmerson, a former Secret Service officer and District resident, was improperly detained when she spilled water out of her child's sippy cup.

It seems that we're hearing more about extreme responses to everyday situations. Is it because they're happening more or because we can all publish more easily? Or both?