Heather Brooke
Heather Brooke
Heather Rose Brookeis a British-American journalist and freedom of information campaigner. Resident since the 1990s in the UK, she helped to expose the 2009 expenses scandal, which culminated in the resignation of House of Commons Speaker Michael Martin...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionJournalist
CountryUnited States of America
act affecting bush grew grips individual loud patriot protests public pushed weeks
Say what you will about Americans, but one thing they are not is passive. The Bush administration may have pushed through the Patriot Act weeks after 11 September, but, as the American public got to grips with how the law was affecting their individual rights, their protests grew loud and angry.
afford becomes benefit care club community costs cozy entire justice lawyers middle public solely sort system
If the public can't see justice being done, or afford the costs of justice, then the entire system becomes little more than a cozy club solely for the benefit of judges, lawyers and their lackeys, a sort of care in the community for the upper middle classes.
civil domain either lead public quantity seen solid streets symbol technology
CCTV is seen either as a symbol of Orwellian dystopia or a technology that will lead to crime-free streets and civil behaviour. While arguments continue, there is very little solid data in the public domain about the costs, quantity and effectiveness of surveillance.
best evasion flow outright promotion public relations worst
Public relations is at best promotion or manipulation, at worst evasion and outright deception. What it is never about is a free flow of information.
family protected public
The royal family are protected from public accountability by law.
keeps public scrutiny
It is scrutiny by the general public that keeps the powerful honest.
commercial good journalism public treated truth
When journalism is treated as just another widget in a commercial enterprise, the focus isn't on truth, verification or public good, but productivity and output.
bad certainly public
Parliamentarians certainly know how to do bad public relations.
agenda authors becomes books current events goes timely
As the news agenda goes into warp speed, it becomes ever more difficult for authors writing about current events to keep their books timely and relevant.
english equivalent hold knowledge open places primary social
Hackerspaces are the digital-age equivalent of English Enlightenment coffee houses. They are places open to all, indifferent to social status, and where ideas and knowledge hold primary value.
crime falsity life patience politics
When you're a crime reporter, you see the nub of what life's about, and you don't have much patience for the falsity of politics.
We are not naughty children, and the state is not our parent.
basically legal written
Britain's legal structure is basically the same as in feudal times: laws are written for the elite.
collapse hype interest people provide whose
In whose interest is it to hype up the collapse of the Internet from a DDoS attack? Why, the people who provide cyber security services, of course.