A woman watched the death of her husband aired on TV, and she and her family never gave consent.

Top of the Alty World

"When a Patient’s Death is Broadcast Without Permission"—ProPublica

English current-events magazine The Economist takes a look at the chaotic finish to New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio's first year in office.—The Economist

Former New York Governor Mario Cuomo passed away, leaving behind a strong progressive legacy, especially on issues like the death penalty.—The Nation

Research shows 80 percent of "Dark Web" visits are related to pedophilia.—Wired

Top of Alty Utah

A lawmaker's bill would revamp the Governor's Office of Economic Development, which was recently hit with a scathing audit.—Utah Political Capitol

A federal judge rescinded a public defender for San Juan County Commissioner and anti-fed protester Phil Lyman.—Utah Politico Hub

Salt Lake City Weekly offers updates on some of the most important stories covered in 2014.—Salt Lake City Weekly

I recap the year in my reporting by ranking the most pissed-off quotes of 2014.—Salt Lake City Weekly

Rantosphere

Matt Taibbi finds the New York City Police Department's decision to protest against the mayor by not policing unless they "have to" surreal.

In an alternate universe where this pseudo-strike wasn't the latest sortie in a standard-issue right-versus left political showdown, one could imagine this protest as a progressive or even a libertarian strike, in which police refused to work as backdoor tax-collectors and/or implement Minority Report-style pre-emptive policing policies, which is what a lot of these Broken Windows-type arrests amount to.

But that's not what's going on here. As far as I can tell, there's nothing enlightened about this slowdown, although I'm sure there are thousands of cops who are more than happy to get a break from Broken Windows policing.—Rolling Stone

The Long View

New York magazine takes a look at the longshot candidacy of Bernie Sanders and whether his socialistic words might finally reach voters downtrodden by the economy and the nation's inequality.

Like a rabbinical Man in Black, a lone truth teller, Bernie fired the rat-a-tat of bone-chilling bullet points: how nearly 46 million Americans are now in poverty, “more than at any time in the history of our country”; how, “despite the modest gains of the Affordable Care Act,” some 40 million citizens still will likely have no health insurance. Did you know that the top 25 hedge-fund managers in the country make enough to pay the salaries of more than 425,000 public-school teachers? No? Well, it’s true, Sanders said. Is anything likely to change? Not really. As Bernie explained, “60 percent of the people don’t vote; 75 percent of low-income people don’t vote; 80 percent of people between 18 and 21 don’t vote.”

Like his fellow senator on the left, Elizabeth Warren, the white-haired Sanders is a reigning campus hero, but his testament brings only gloom to his audience at the University of New Hampshire auditorium. Could things really be that bad? Could the American experiment, the New Jerusalem of Thoreau and Emerson, have been reduced to this snarling, cobalt-hearted thing? What kind of country have we bequeathed to our children, the poor debt-ridden college students/suckers who filled much of the hall?

As for the upcoming 2016 election, what could a matchup of Hillary and Jeb Bush decide except who sat at the temporary head of the Illuminati table? Sanders is on record as saying he respects Hillary, that they became “friends” when she was First Lady and then a senator. But what difference could someone as connected to power as Hillary make in the present dire situation? “If you talk about the need for a political revolution in America, it’s fair to say that Secretary Clinton probably will not be one of the more active people,” Sanders has said.—New York