Android started out as a mobile operating system, but over the years, it became much more. Part of that vision was realized when Google killed Chromebooks in favor of Googlebooks. You actually don’t need one of these to get a similar desktop experience. In fact, you can replace your laptop or PC with your Android phone now.

Okay, before we dive too deep, you should know that Android’s desktop mode doesn’t work on all Android devices. But it is compatible with many of the most popular handsets in the United States, including new Samsung phones with DeX and Google Pixel phones with Android Desktop Mode.

Samsung DeX is more refined than Pixel’s Android Desktop Mode.

To use desktop mode on Android, you’ll need several things:

Computer monitor with either a USB-C port or HDMI port for video.USB-C-to-USB-C cable or an HDMI cable paired with a compatible USB-C adapter for the connection.If you’re using an HDMI cable with an adapter, you’ll also need a power cable that can plug into the adapter; otherwise, your battery will drain quickly. Those using a USB-C cable should receive power to their device from the monitor without extra hardware.Wireless Bluetooth mouse and keyboard to control the interface.

These steps could vary slightly, depending on your make and model of phone. For today’s example, we’re testing a Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 on One UI 9 (Android 17) and a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL running Android 17.

Why should you try desktop mode on Android?

Now, before we get started, you might wonder why you may wish to use desktop mode on Android. Aside from the fact that it is just cool to have a desktop experience that you can pull out of your pocket and connect to a monitor at any time, it can also replace your laptop or desktop in some cases.

Android desktop mode is great for browsing the web, answering emails, writing in your favorite apps, and watching videos. Because it’s Android, many existing apps from the Google Play Store will work, though some are better optimized than others. You can even play some popular Android games, like Genshin Impact, Wuthering Waves, and more, provided you connect a Bluetooth game controller.

What Android desktop doesn’t do is replace a gaming PC. You can’t get your Steam game library to work, at least not reliably, and even if you could, most phones aren’t powerful enough and don’t mitigate heat enough for sustained AAA gaming performance.

That said, Android desktop mode is a great tool for tinkering around and doing many typical tasks usually reserved for dedicated hardware.

RELATED: Google is about to overhaul the Android. You’ll either love it or hate it.

lixu/Getty Images

How to use desktop mode on Samsung Galaxy

To get started, make sure your phone is powered on and unlocked to the home screen. Next, connect your Samsung Galaxy phone to your monitor using your USB-C cable or HDMI cable with USB-C adapter. If your monitor doesn’t immediately light up with a desktop interface from your phone, open the Settings app on your Galaxy device and tap “Connected devices,” followed by “Samsung DeX.” Lastly, tap “Connected display” and choose “Extended.” You should now see a desktop interface on your monitor.

Next, you’ll need to set up your wireless keyboard and mouse. Back in the main Settings app, choose “Connections” and tap on “Bluetooth” (do not touch the toggle switch but tap the word itself). Make sure your mouse and keyboard are in pairing mode, and hit the “Scan” button in the top right corner. Follow the pairing instructions, and you’re all set.

Samsung DeX is available on many Samsung devices, including Galaxy S8 and up, the original Z Fold and up, and the Tab S4 series and up.

Samsung DeX on Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 8 on One UI 9 (Android 17)/Zach Laidlaw

How to use desktop mode on Google Pixel

To get started, power your phone on and unlock it to the home screen. Next, connect your Google Pixel device to your monitor using your USB-C cable or HDMI cable with USB-C adapter. You should immediately see a pop-up that asks if you want to connect your external display in “Desktop” mode or “Mirror” mode. Choose “Desktop,” and your monitor should light up with a desktop interface.

Now for the mouse and keyboard. Make sure these two devices are in pairing mode. Then on your Pixel, open the Settings app, tap “Connected devices” and “Pair new device,” and wait for the mouse and keyboard to appear before finalizing the connection. That’s it!

Android Desktop Mode works on Google Pixel 8 and up.

Google Pixel Android Desktop Mode on Android 17/Zach Laidlaw

No, that blurry brown rectangle isn’t a broken image link (or a censored pic). It’s the wallpaper you see on Google Pixel’s desktop. All the time. Yuck.

Well, nobody’s perfect.

Thanks to better wallpaper and stronger app support, Samsung DeX is more refined than Pixel’s Android Desktop Mode. That is to be expected, though, as Samsung has worked on DeX since 2017, while Google launched the official version of Android Desktop Mode in March of this year.

While Samsung DeX is far more enjoyable and useful in my opinion, both work in a pinch if you ever need to access a desktop experience from your Android phone.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Android, Google play store, Google, Samsung, Tech, Smartphones 

Many of the Democrats now melting down over Homeland Security Investigations’ raid of Minnesota Democrat Rep. Ilhan Omar’s Washington, D.C.-area residence weren’t at all fussed when their top political opponent was having his home searched by armed federal agents.

Quick recap

A Justice Department spokeswoman confirmed to the New York Times that HSI agents executed a judicially authorized search of a home in the D.C. area on Monday as part of an “ongoing federal criminal investigation.”

‘No one is above the law.’

Three people briefed on the matter told the Times that the search warrant for the Somali-born ethno-nationalist’s house lists various potential immigration crimes under investigation including fraud in immigration paperwork.

Omar has long been dogged by allegations that she married her brother to help him fraudulently obtain immigration status in the United States. She has called the allegations “absolutely false and ridiculous.”

The raid on Monday comes just weeks after White House border czar Thomas Homan confirmed the existence of an HSI criminal probe into Omar.

Homan told Fox News that “if someone committed immigration violation, if someone committed marriage fraud or anything like that, regardless if they’re a congressman or not, no one’s above the law.”

A tale of two raids

Omar’s office called the raid “an outrageous abuse of power and an unprecedented escalation in the weaponization of federal law enforcement to target political enemies,” and Omar called it “an attempt to target political enemies and weaponize federal law enforcement.”

Democrats quickly joined Omar in condemning the judicially authorized search and in characterizing it as “unprecedented” and “disturbing.”

RELATED: The raid that Democrats can’t wave away

Jim WATSON/AFP/Getty Images; Joe Raedle/Getty Images

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.J.), House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), and Rep. Peter Aguilar (D-Calif.), for instance, claimed in a joint statement, “The Trump administration’s raid on Congresswoman Ilhan Omar’s home is deeply disturbing and raises serious questions about the continued corrupt weaponization of the federal government against Donald Trump’s adversaries.”

The trio also criticized the federal government for targeting a lawmaker’s home ahead of an election.

Jeffries sang a different tune, however, when just months ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, the FBI raided President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence with guns drawn.

The day after the raid, Jeffries tweeted, “No one is above the law.” In the weeks that followed, he repeatedly used this line and stated that while “extraordinary,” the raid appeared to be justified.

Eight days after the FBI swarmed Mar-a-Lago, Katherine Clark also defended the raid, stating in an interview with GBH News, “This was a legal search warrant signed off by a federal judge.”

Clark further claimed that Republicans were playing a “dangerous game” by condemning the raid and stressed the need to wait and “see what this investigation turns into.”

At the time, Aguilar insinuated that the Mar-a-Lago raid was necessary, concern-mongered about the classified documents found at Trump’s residence, and insisted that Trump was fair game.

This trio is hardly the only group of Democrats whose complaints now ring hollow owing to their disparate response four years ago.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) clutched pearls on Monday over the Omar raid, calling it an “assault on our constitutional values”; an “outrageous abuse of power”; part of a broader “campaign of political retribution” against a critic of the president; and “blatant political intimidation and an attempt to interfere with the Congresswoman’s reelection.”

Raskin did not appear to be similarly outraged over the FBI’s election-time raid of Trump’s residence.

When asked on Aug. 9, 2022, about the Mar-a-Lago raid, Raskin coolly said, “Speaking as a citizen, we all have an interest in the rule of law in the country and respect for the rule of law, and the resistance to the lawlessness that seems to be, you know, always out there now.”

California Rep. Ro Khanna (D) whined about the Omar raid this week, claiming in a video statement that “it is simply chilling that they are targeting political opponents this way.”

Like his comrades, Khanna took an entirely different approach in 2022, telling then-MSNBC host Ari Melber, “The FBI doesn’t just go in unless a judge signs off on a search warrant. That means they have some probable evidence about possible wrongdoing.”

Khanna further said that then-Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Justice Department were just “following the facts” and that “it’s not for me or members of Congress to say what should happen.”

RELATED: Is Ilhan Omar getting deported? Trump’s post raises eyebrows

HSI officers search the home of Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.). Andrew Leyden/Getty Images

Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) is another hypocritical Democrat who felt obligated to defend the 2022 raid but condemn the 2026 raid.

Tlaib told Michigan Advance days after the Mar-a-Lago raid that Trump is “not above the law. If he committed a crime, he should be held accountable to it. I don’t care that he was president of the United States. If anything, we set a dangerous precedent if we let folks get away with these kinds of things, especially when it comes to, you know, national security.”

Now that the shoe is on the Somali foot, Tlaib is crying foul.

She stated on Monday, “Trump is grossly abusing his power to raid the home of Rep. Omar. He has repeatedly attacked her, Somali Americans, and Minnesotans. @Ilhan has done nothing to justify a pre-dawn raid ahead of the election. I stand with my sister always.”

Even Omar herself claimed that “no one is above the law” when arguing that the criminal indictment of Trump was a sign that the justice system worked as designed. “The fact that one of the most powerful people in the world was investigated impartially and indicted by a grand jury is testament to the fact that we live in a country of laws,” she tweeted in March 2023.

Vice President JD Vance rejected Democrats’ claim this week that the administration is weaponizing federal law enforcement against Trump adversaries, telling Fox News Digital on Tuesday, “We don’t want to be like the Biden administration. We never want to be like that — where they would allow the law to go after their political opponents.”

“We really want to let the law, the facts drive this,” said Vance. “And if justice requires something else be done, then, of course, we’ll take a step when we have to.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Jamie raskin, Katherine clark, Hakeem jeffries, Donald trump, Rashida tlaib, Ilhan omar, Homeland security investigations, Mar-a-lago, Raid, Politics 

Volkswagen spent years preparing for an electric future. Now it’s clearing space on the assembly line for more gas-powered SUVs.

In April, the German automaker announced it would stop building its ID.4 electric crossover at its Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant. The factory would instead concentrate on higher-volume models, particularly the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport.

The Atlas has always had one big advantage over many of its three-row competitors: space. And I mean usable space, especially in that third row.

That’s quite a change of direction for a company that once regarded the ID.4 as central to its American ambitions. The electric crossover was supposed to bring Volkswagen into a new era of affordable, mass-market electric transportation. Instead, the company is making room for the kind of vehicle American families have been buying all along.

And having recently driven the redesigned 2027 Atlas, I can understand why.

Whatever happened to the people’s EV?

Volkswagen’s electric ambitions weren’t exactly modest. After its diesel emissions scandal, the company committed billions to electrification, developing an entire family of battery-powered vehicles under its ID branding.

The ID.4, which arrived in the United States in 2021, was a particularly important part of that strategy. It offered the familiar dimensions and practicality of a compact SUV, along with the promise of lower operating costs and freedom from the gas pump.

Volkswagen even invested in producing it domestically, making Chattanooga a major part of its North American EV operation.

For a while, the numbers looked encouraging. ID.4 sales rose in 2025, helped by the federal EV tax credit, which made the vehicle substantially more attractive to buyers. But after the credit expired on September 30, 2025, sales collapsed.

According to Volkswagen’s sales figures, the company sold just 338 ID.4s in the first three months of 2026, compared with 7,663 during the same period a year earlier. That’s a decline of nearly 96%.

By April, Volkswagen had made its decision. ID.4 production in Tennessee was finished, although remaining inventory would be available into 2027. The company hasn’t ruled out bringing back a revised version.

And the ID.4 isn’t the only electric Volkswagen that’s had a rough time.

I happen to love the ID. Buzz, Volkswagen’s battery-powered revival of the old Microbus. The styling is terrific, there’s plenty of room inside, and it’s a vehicle that makes you smile just looking at it.

But every time I’ve driven one, I’ve thought the same thing: Where’s the range extender? The driving range just isn’t enough for a vehicle designed to take people and their families on trips. Add the high price, and you’ve got a tough sell.

Volkswagen skipped the 2026 model year for the ID. Buzz and has since delayed its American return until the 2028 model year.

Look, there’s nothing wrong with building electric vehicles. But they have to make sense for the people buying them. Price matters. Range matters. And so does being able to get where you’re going without worrying about your next charging stop.

The Atlas gets a second chance

Which brings us to the 2027 Atlas.

My co-host Karl Brauer and I recently drove the redesigned SUV at a Volkswagen event in Huntsville, Alabama, not far from the Chattanooga factory where it’s built.

First of all, if you’ve never been to Huntsville, it’s a beautiful place to drive. The roads were excellent, the scenery was gorgeous, and the weather was just about perfect.

The Atlas has always had one big advantage over many of its three-row competitors: space. And I mean usable space, especially in that third row.

I know people who have kept their Atlases for years because they love them. One family I know has driven theirs from one end of the country to the other with adults sitting in the third row and all their luggage packed inside. No complaints. That’s pretty impressive.

Fortunately, Volkswagen hasn’t messed that up with the redesign.

The new Atlas still has that generous passenger room, but the interior is considerably more upscale. The materials are nicer, the seats are comfortable, and there’s a lot more technology.

Depending on the trim, you get upgraded seating surfaces, a large central touchscreen, digital instruments, and the kind of detailing you’d expect in a more expensive vehicle. The available Harman Kardon audio system is especially impressive. Volkswagen even offers built-in games, including classics like Tetris and Uno, that you can play while the vehicle is parked.

Now, I don’t know that anyone needs to play video games in their SUV, but if you’re waiting to pick up the kids or sitting around at a campsite, I can see the appeal.

Under the hood is a revised 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 282 horsepower, paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. Front-wheel drive is standard on lower trims, with all-wheel drive available.

Prices start at $43,135 and climb to $58,135 for the fully equipped SEL Premium R-Line.

One of the nice things about the Atlas is that you don’t have to buy the most expensive version to get a well-equipped family vehicle. Even the base model comes with a lot of features people actually use.

Overall, I was impressed. Volkswagen has done a very nice job.

But there’s one thing I don’t understand.

Where’s the hybrid?

The new Atlas comes with just one powertrain: that turbocharged gasoline four-cylinder.

And while it’s reasonably efficient for a large SUV, an EPA-estimated 25 mpg combined with front-wheel drive and 23 mpg with all-wheel drive isn’t particularly exciting when you look at what the competition is doing.

Take the 2027 Kia Telluride Hybrid.

Its 2.5-liter turbocharged hybrid system makes 329 horsepower — considerably more than the Atlas — and gets an EPA-estimated 35 mpg combined in the front-wheel-drive EX trim. Even the all-wheel-drive Telluride Hybrid gets 31 mpg combined.

That’s a big difference when you’re driving a three-row family SUV every day.

The Telluride Hybrid starts at $46,490 before destination, and a fully equipped version costs roughly what Volkswagen charges for its top-of-the-line Atlas.

So think about that. You’ve got two roomy, well-equipped, three-row SUVs. Both have attractive interiors, modern technology, and plenty of room for the family. But the Kia gives you more horsepower, substantially better fuel economy, and a longer powertrain warranty.

That’s going to be a pretty easy comparison for a lot of buyers.

Hyundai and Kia have been doing an excellent job lately. They understand the American market, they offer a lot of equipment for the money, and they’re giving customers a choice of gasoline, hybrid, and electric vehicles.

Volkswagen knows it’s missing something. At the 2026 New York International Auto Show, Volkswagen Group of America CEO Kjell Gruner confirmed that hybrids are coming to the Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport, and Tiguan.

But we’re not getting an Atlas hybrid right away. It’s planned for a future midcycle refresh, which industry reports suggest could put its arrival around the 2029 or 2030 model year.

That’s a long time to wait when your competitors already have theirs in showrooms.

RELATED: Is your car reading your texts? Only the auto industry knows for sure

New York Daily News/Getty Images

Giving buyers a choice

Now, Volkswagen isn’t abandoning electric vehicles altogether. The company continues developing EVs for other markets, and there’s certainly room for electric Volkswagens in America if they offer the right combination of price, range, and practicality.

But I find the Chattanooga decision especially interesting.

Here’s a company that invested heavily in building electric vehicles in America, and now it’s using that factory capacity to build more gasoline-powered SUVs. Volkswagen clearly sees where the demand is.

And changing course isn’t cheap. In its April financial report, the company disclosed roughly half a billion euros in costs associated with adjusting its American product strategy.

The good news is that the redesigned Atlas is an excellent vehicle. It’s roomy, comfortable, attractive, and loaded with technology. I think a lot of families are going to be very happy with it.

But I also think Volkswagen missed an opportunity by launching it without a hybrid. Kia and Hyundai already have compelling alternatives that offer better fuel economy without asking drivers to change how they use their vehicles.

That’s what more buyers want: options. Some want gasoline. Some want hybrids. Some want electric. And plenty of people just want a reliable, comfortable family SUV they can afford to own and drive.

​Assembly line, Auto industry, Cars, Evs, Hybrids, Lifestyle, Volkswagen, Automotive 

Federal agents shot and arrested a “criminal illegal alien” in the Bronx on Thursday, according to the Department of Homeland Security, after he allegedly rammed into them during a law enforcement operation despite having his young son in the vehicle.

Democrats and the liberal media rushed to paint the nonfatal shooting of 28-year-old Dominican national Oscar Bengal as terroristic or at the very least as unwarranted, and the alien — whose deportation was temporarily blocked on Friday by an Obama judge — as a misunderstood, music-loving “New Yorker.”

‘I am angry tonight.’

It appears that Democrats and their fellow travelers have once again rallied behind a dangerous foreign thug who has had numerous run-ins with the law.

Thug life

Immigration and Customs Enforcement intelligence shows that “Bengal traveled to the southern border as part of a caravan seeking to exploit the Biden administration’s disastrous open border,” a DHS spokesman told Blaze News. “He and countless others successfully snuck into our country at an unknown place and time.”

After stealing into the U.S., Bengal continued to break American law.

He was, for instance, arrested in New York City in 2023 and charged with two counts of petit larceny, two counts of third-degree robbery, two counts of criminal possession of a weapon with intention to use, grand larceny, two counts criminal possession of stolen property, two counts of menacing, and two counts of menacing with a weapon.

Bengal ultimately pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny and was sentenced to five years’ probation. The DHS indicated that he was cut loose before ICE could lodge a detainer.

Bengal was then arrested in August 2025 after allegedly selling fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin to an undercover cop on multiple occasions.

According to court documents reviewed by the New York Daily News, the Dominican was indicted in December on one count of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second degree and nine counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance in third degree.

RELATED: Shattered by socialism: ‘Escaping Venezuela’ offers a warning for Mamdani’s America

Screenshot, New York Police Department, X video

A spokesperson for the New York City Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office told the Daily News that at the time he was shot last week, Bengal had “been out on supervised release” for the drug charges. Court records show that his next scheduled appearance in the drug case is Dec. 2.

Bengal also faces active charges in New York for alleged assault and robbery, had protection orders lodged against him twice in January, and is allegedly a “documented associate of the notorious Trinitario street gang in the Bronx, NY,” according to the DHS.

A DHS spokesman told Blaze News that on Sept. 18, ICE attempted to apprehend Bengal in the Bronx.

“He disobeyed ICE officers’ lawful commands and fled law enforcement. For the safety of the general public, ICE stood down and did not pursue him that day,” said the spokesman.

Bengal’s latest arrest

When ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers positively identified Bengal driving on Thursday, they “used their vehicles to conduct a vehicle stop and approached Bengal’s vehicle on foot,” said the DHS.

The DHS alleged that Bengal “then rammed the ICE vehicles and appeared that he intended to strike officers on foot.”

Evidently believing that their lives were in jeopardy, one ICE officer opened fire, grazing Bengal’s neck.

“Bengal refused lawful orders to exit his vehicle. He then accelerated his vehicle, smashing into two of our ICE vehicles. He then weaponized his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate his vehicle toward other officers,” said ICE ERO Executive Director Marcos Charles. “Our officer, believing that their life, the lives of their partners, and the lives of the general public were in danger, used their training and fired their weapon.”

Bengal’s lawyers did not respond to Blaze News’ request for comment by deadline.

At the time of the shooting, Bengal’s young son was in his vehicle.

DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin emphasized that “Oscar put his child at risk when he chose to accelerate, hit two federal vehicles, and also weaponize the vehicle and move towards at an accelerated rate towards officers that were trying to apprehend him.”

Mullin noted that his agency knew that this was going to be a “contentious arrest” and that precautions were taken to maximize safety at the time it was conducted.

Bodycam footage released by the New York Police Department shows police taking Bengal from the officers who had administered first aid and transporting the convict to the hospital, where he received attention for what the DHS described as a “superficial” injury.

Leftists rush in

After the shooting, a mob soon gathered outside New York Presbyterian Allen Hospital to protest ICE, trapping federal officers inside the building, reported the New York Daily News.

In the hours and days that followed Bengal’s arrest, the anti-ICE protests turned violent.

Leftist officials and the liberal media helped feed the mob’s rage and misconceptions, namely that ICE had targeted a “New Yorker” and that the shooting was unjustified.

New York City Democrat Mayor Zohran Mamdani rushed to condemn the incident, tweeting, “This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation. I have called the President; when we speak I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city. I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities.”

“Our thoughts are with the injured New Yorker and his family tonight. We are praying for his recovery,” added the democratic socialist mayor.

Mamdani, who tried to negotiate the convict’s release, later stated, “I am angry tonight. Because today ICE shot a New Yorker. They shot a New Yorker while his five year old child was in the car. ICE makes this city less safe.”

Carmen De La Rosa, a Democrat New York City Council member who was born in the Dominican Republic, attacked ICE, stating that “no matter what DHS alleges this adult male did, that does not warrant a death sentence.”

“This is a rogue, untrained, unprofessional agency and a dastardly strain on the country,” said the foreign-born leftist. “It must be abolished.”

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) noted on Thursday that she had spoken with President Donald Trump and Mullin and “expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and urged them to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York.”

The following day, Hochul insinuated that ICE — not the criminal alien — had put Bengal’s son at risk and suggested after speaking to the boy’s mother that “all I wanted to do was give her a hug and tell her this never should have happened to her family.”

Democratic Socialists of America called the shooting a “horrifying demonstration of the terror ICE brings into our communities.”

When similarly melting down, Darializa Avila Chevalier — the Islamic anti-police, anti-Israel, anti-border socialist now poised to win a congressional seat in New York as a Democrat — initially referred to the criminal noncitizen as a “member of our community.”

After New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tish publicly referred to Bengal’s thuggish history, Chevalier told Hasan Piker that Bengal’s criminal record and immigration status “doesn’t even matter.”

“Police Commissioner Tisch came out, and I understand that it is her role to provide more information, and that is why she comes to these press conferences,” said the congressional candidate. “But rather than, you know, condemn ICE, rather than condemn the shooting or the events that had just taken place, she started to villainize Oscar, right?”

Chevalier suggested further that the thug’s alleged efforts to evade and attack law enforcement constituted self-defense and stressed that “he needs to be released.”

The New York Times, of course, did its part by painting Bengal as a “friendly,” music-loving neighbor.

While his name has appeared with multiple spellings in court documents and recent reports, the DHS confirmed that the proper spelling is “Bengal.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Department of homeland security, Immigration, Illegal alien, Kathy hochul, Markwayne mullin, Zohran mamdani, Politics, Immigration and customs enforcement 

In Onondaga County, New York, a union has gone to court to stop an artificial intelligence tool from answering nonemergency calls at the county’s 911 center. The system handles routine calls, roughly a third of the center’s volume, and transfers suspected emergencies to human operators. The county wants to use the technology. The union wants it stopped.

The union contends that the rollout violates its labor agreement. But its lawsuit puts a familiar priority on display: Protect work covered by the contract, even when new technology might improve a public service.

Americans should not have to sacrifice the benefits of invention to preserve yesterday’s job descriptions.

Labor unions exist to defend their members. They owe no comparable allegiance to consumers, employers, or workers who never join. That last group is enormous. Union members accounted for just 10% of U.S. wage and salary workers in 2025 and only 5.9% in the private sector. Yet a union can use its bargaining power to obstruct changes that would benefit everyone else.

American ports offer a more expensive example. The 2025 Container Port Performance Index, which measures vessel turnaround efficiency, ranked only one U.S. port among the world’s top 50: Philadelphia, at No. 48. Meanwhile, the International Longshoremen’s Association has made opposition to automation a central demand.

The ILA’s 2025 agreement with employers at East and Gulf Coast ports delivered a 62% wage increase over six years. It also restricted automation. As Jordan McGillis reported in City Journal, employers must hire another longshoreman for every new semiautonomous crane they install, while fully autonomous cranes remain prohibited.

Better machines could move goods faster and reduce costs for businesses and consumers. The union secured limits on those machines instead. A Congressional Research Service report has also documented long-standing concerns about payroll fraud and organized crime influence involving the ILA on the New York-New Jersey waterfront.

RELATED: America doesn’t need Dario Amodei’s permission to build

Jason Henry/Bloomberg/Getty Images

This struggle predates computers, robots, and artificial intelligence. Some medieval craft guilds protected their privileges by limiting competition and resisting techniques that threatened established trades. American unions have repeatedly followed that example.

When diesel locomotives displaced steam engines, railroads no longer needed firemen to tend boilers. Unions nevertheless fought to preserve those jobs. H.E. Gilbert, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, defended that struggle in 1963: “You can always mint more money. But you can’t mint new lives.”

Gilbert cared about the livelihoods of his members. He ignored the workers and families who would gain from cheaper, more efficient rail service. Protecting a job made obsolete by technology does not preserve the wealth that makes employment possible.

In 1971, the International Longshore and Warehouse Union staged a 134-day strike as containerization transformed shipping. The fight centered on jobs, jurisdiction, and work rules as machines replaced much of the labor once required to load cargo. In 1986, Rupert Murdoch moved his British newspapers to computerized printing at Wapping, dismissed 5,500 workers, and faced union picketing for more than a year.

RELATED: The future belongs to people who believe in one

Cheng Xin/Getty Images

In each dispute, established workers fought to defend their position against technological change. The gains from new equipment, however, extended well beyond the employers who purchased it. Consumers gained faster service and lower costs; other workers benefited from a more productive economy.

Workers should remain free to join unions and bargain collectively. Voluntary labor organizations belong in a free society. But decades of government intervention have given organized labor legal privileges that can come at the expense of nonunion workers, employers, and customers. Those privileges deserve scrutiny, not automatic deference.

A union has every incentive to protect its members. The public has no obligation to make that protection the governing purpose of an industry or a taxpayer-funded service. The East India Company did not trade in a free market simply because it conducted commerce. Nor does a union bargain in a free labor market when government grants it advantages unavailable to everyone else.

Innovation raises living standards by allowing people to produce more with less. Organized labor can help workers adapt to that progress, or it can try to halt it. Americans should not have to sacrifice the benefits of invention to preserve yesterday’s job descriptions.

​Artificial intelligence, Competition, Court, East coast, Employers, Gulf coast, Labor market, Labor unions, Machines, New york, Shipping, Technology, Union, Opinion & analysis 

Two females have been charged after allegedly punching, stomping, kicking, and biting a St. Louis-area gas station security guard — who also happens to be a rookie police officer.

St. Louis County prosecutors charged Shaniya Lewis and Nayonna Griffin, both 20, with second-degree assault of a special victim and resisting or interfering with an arrest for a felony, KSDK-TV reported. Both suspects remained behind bars Tuesday on $100,000 cash-only bonds, the station said.

‘He’s only been with us a short period of time, but he’s a hard worker.’

St. Louis County Police told KSDK the incident occurred Sunday morning at the QuikTrip at 12110 Lusher Road. The off-duty Hillsdale Police Department officer was working a secondary security job there, the station said.

Charging documents said things got under way when the guard approached Griffin after she threw items at him, KSDK reported, adding that Lewis soon joined in, struggled with the guard, and threw him to the ground.

Police told the station Lewis repeatedly punched the guard while Griffin stomped on his head. What’s more, Lewis actually reached for his gun but was unable to remove it from its holster, KSDK said.

When additional officers arrived and attempted to detain Griffin, police told the station she continued grabbing the guard’s hair, kicking, flailing, and attempting to run away. She also kept her hands away from officers as they tried to handcuff her, KSDK said.

You can view video of the attack here.

RELATED: Smiling thug accused of fatally shooting Philly cop in ambush; officer had wife, 2 young children

KSDK in a separate story said Hillsdale Police Department officials confirmed Monday that the security guard is a rookie on their force.

“I wish that somebody would intervene,” Hillsdale Assistant Police Chief Lt. Col. Herb Simmons told the station in regard to onlookers recording the attack on their phones. “You know, I understand you want to try to be Facebook famous or whatever, but just imagine if that was your brother that was getting jumped or a cousin. Why can’t you step in, be the bigger person, and pull one of them away?”

Simmons also commended his officer for not using excessive force, KSDK said: “If he’s fatigued and he’s out and they were trying to disarm him it could have went into a shooting situation. They were trying to take his weapon, stuff off his belt. It could have went totally different.”

Simmons added to the station that store surveillance cameras captured roughly four minutes of video that St. Louis County detectives are reviewing: “If one person might have stepped in and pulled one person away, it wouldn’t have went this far.”

The rookie officer was taken to a hospital for treatment, KSDK said, adding that police officials said he suffered minor injuries including bite marks and bruises and is expected to recover and return to work on Wednesday.

“He’s only been with us a short period of time, but he’s a hard worker,” Simmons added to the station. “He hustles, he does what he needs to do. I can call him at the drop of a hat, and he’ll show up.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Arrests, Gas station, Missouri, Off-duty police officer, Physical attack, St louis county, Viral video, Security guard, Crime 

Cornell University has taken steps in response to nationwide criticism over a sexual assault lawsuit, the university president has announced.

President Michael Kotlikoff said all fraternity parties have been banned for the rest of the academic year and added that “experienced, trauma-informed criminal investigators” will be brought in to look into sexual assault allegations.

‘We must meet this moment by acknowledging where we have fallen short and taking meaningful action.’

He specifically apologized for the harm allegedly suffered by the accuser in a 2024 incident involving several members of the Chi Phi fraternity.

“These are first steps toward systemic change on our campus,” said Kotlikoff in a statement dated Tuesday. “Cornell must be a place where safety is not an open question. I am committed to doing that work and to seeing it through.”

Fraternities found in violation of the party ban will receive “an immediate emergency suspension,” with zero tolerance.

“It is clear that women on our campus continue to question whether they are safe,” Kotlikoff said in the statement. “We must meet this moment by acknowledging where we have fallen short and taking meaningful action.”

The accuser, who is known only as Jane Doe, alleges that she did not consent to all of the sexual acts with the fraternity members during the Oct. 2024 incident. None of the former students involved have been criminally charged.

Doe is suing Cornell, the fraternity, seven former members of that fraternity, and her sorority.

Thomas Giuffra, the attorney representing Doe, said in a statement to NBC News that her “goal in filing her lawsuit was not solely for herself.”

“She wanted to achieve her aim of improving Cornell and its response to abuse claims. While the steps announced today are helpful to achieve this goal, they are too late to protect Ms. Doe,” he added.

“However, these steps will hopefully go a long way to help ensure that there are no more Jane Does,” Giuffra said.

RELATED: 200 students protest HS football captain’s post on Cornell scandal — and team forfeits game

New York Democrat Gov. Kathy Hochul announced on Oct. 1 that she issued an executive order appointing state Attorney General Letitia James as a special prosecutor in the case.

“The young woman at the center of this case deserves to know that every fact will be examined and justice pursued. This action will ensure that the matter is fully and thoroughly investigated without conflict or bias and handled independently with the rigor that this matter demands,” Hochul claimed.

Hochul was immediately criticized after many pointed out that James had already posted an opinion on the case and taken sides before being appointed. On Sept. 28, James referred to Doe as a “survivor” and pledged to “stand with” her.

“It is problematic for a prosecutor like Tish James to be commenting on a case publicly before the investigation is concluded,” said former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani to Fox News Digital. “And the problem is, if you file criminal charges, whether it’s through a complaint or a grand jury indictment, that may taint the potential jury pool in a criminal case.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Cornell university, Sexual assault, Politics, Kathy hochul, Letitia james 

Country music star Kacey Musgraves unleashed a profanity-laced diatribe against Christopher Columbus during a concert in Texas. The singer lambasted the legendary explorer as a “loser” and the “lamest person to probably ever exist.”

During her concert on Sunday at the American Airlines Center in Dallas, Musgraves blasted the Italian explorer the day before Columbus Day.

‘You’re a loser, Christopher Columbus. We hate you.’

Musgraves told the crowd, “Tomorrow’s Monday? Ew, that’s right, wait, it’s Columbus Day? It’s what now?”

The crowd shouted, “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.”

Musgraves ranted, “Yeah, no, no, yeah, actually, obviously, f**k Columbus. Literally the lamest person to probably ever exist. Like for real. What a loser.”

The expletive-laden statement garnered cheers from the crowd.

Musgraves raged, “You’re a loser, Christopher Columbus. We hate you.”

The 38-year-old Grammy winner ignited a firestorm online with her inflammatory remarks.

Filmmaker Robby Starbuck wrote on the X social media platform:

Columbus is the opposite of lame. He navigated some of the most treacherous seas in ships built in the 1400’s. In doing so he became one of the few people in history to explore new lands and discover new trade routes. Some of those trade routes brought food to nations that desperately needed it and not only saved lives but resulted in population growth. He overcame near mutiny, famine and terrible weather. Kacey Musgraves has likely overcome sequins falling off of her stage costumes and not getting everything she demanded in her green room rider. Just hilarious that she’d say this.

Conservative political commentator Chad Prather said, “Columbus: Sailed across the sea and found a new continent. Kacey Musgraves: Stands on a stage in underwear saying ‘Columbus was lame.’ Do these people not see themselves?”

Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Spencer Pratt added, “An entire generation of spoiled brats who’ve never built anything, stand on the crumbling empire they don’t deserve, built by great and courageous men who are now judged through the moral lens of the softest dorks living in the easiest times. Oy vey.”

Former President Joe Biden became the first U.S. president to formally recognize Indigenous Peoples’ Day in 2021 through a presidential proclamation.

Biden declared at the time, “On Indigenous Peoples’ Day, our Nation celebrates the invaluable contributions and resilience of Indigenous peoples, recognizes their inherent sovereignty, and commits to honoring the Federal Government’s trust and treaty obligations to Tribal Nations.”

Meanwhile, President Donald Trump embraced Columbus Day on Sunday.

Trump wrote on Truth Social:

HAPPY COLUMBUS DAY TO ALL, in particular our great Italian American Community which was forced to suffer as the Radical Left Dumocrats, Socialists, and Communists rampaged through our cities and towns ripping down almost all of the beautiful statues of Christopher Columbus. Well, those days of plunder are over, and the statues are back, more magnificent than ever. This is a big day for our great Italian American Community, and the Country of Italy itself, maybe the biggest. Congratulations!

RELATED: Kacey Musgraves opens tour with plea for children of ‘unfairly’ deported migrants — and gets BRUTAL backlash

Musgraves also waded into political waters during a concert Saturday by posing with Texas Democrat Senate candidate James Talarico.

Former Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem commented on the photo, “I’ll take Ella Langley over Kacey Musgraves any day. And if I’m choosin’ Texas, I’ll take Ken Paxton over James Talarico.”

Musgraves responded by attacking Noem for her controversial 2024 admission that she shot and killed her hunting dog after it killed her chickens. Noem said the dog had become “untrainable” and “dangerous” to people.

“I don’t think you have a dog in this fight but if you did you would have shot it,” Musgraves replied.

As Blaze News previously reported, Talarico went missing from the campaign trail and didn’t make a public appearance between Sept. 26 and Oct. 9.

Talarico’s Republican opponent, Texas Attorney General Paxton, had his supporters chant, “Where is Talarico?” at a Trump rally in San Antonio last Wednesday.

Talarico’s campaign said he had been sick with the flu.

The Texas race is close, with pollsters leaning toward Talarico as the favorite over Paxton. For the latest Texas Senate seat updates — and to follow other important midterm races across the nation — check out Poll Watch, available to Blaze News, BlazeTV+, and Blaze Unlimited subscribers.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Kacey musgraves, Music, Entertainment, Christopher columbus, Columbus day, Kristi noem, James talarico, News