Americans vastly overestimate the risk of hospitalization from COVID: Study . . . Americans overestimate the likelihood a person with COVID-19 would have to be hospitalized by 10 times the actual number, a study shows. People were asked during a Franklin Templeton/Gallup study what “percentage of people who have been infected by the coronavirus needed to be hospitalized.” Thirty-five percent of those asked said that over half of infected people would require hospitalization from the disease. Meanwhile, only 18% of Americans correctly stated that the risk of hospitalization was somewhere between 1%-5%. “The U.S. public is also deeply misinformed about the severity of the virus for the average infected person,” the study’s authors said. Washington Examiner

More tech at home creates longer, more stressful workdays during COVID . . . The workday working from home during the coronavirus pandemic doesn't just feel longer - it actually is longer. For many of us, spending 12-hour-plus workdays staring at laptops has become far too familiar. Since the World Health Organization declared a global pandemic a year ago, many companies allow employees to work remotely, and in some cases, permanently. Screens, keyboards, and computer mice on dining room tables are now commonplace, and videoconferencing is the new normal. But the convenience of having that technology at home is creating a never-ending workday for some employees who struggle to decide when it’s time to turn off the switch. A Harvard Business School study of more than 3 million people in 16 cities worldwide found that the average workday increased by 48.5 minutes during the pandemic's early stages. USA Today

Illegal Immigrant Says He Wouldn’t Have Crossed The Border If Trump Was President . . .  A father who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border illegally told ABC’s Martha Raddatz that he would not have done so if former President Donald Trump were still in office. During a segment of “This Week” that aired Sunday morning, Raddatz interviewed a man from Brazil who had crossed the border with his wife and children — and he told her that he made the choice not to come until President Joe Biden took office. “Would you have tried to do this when Donald Trump was president?" Raddatz asked. “Definitely not," responded the Brazilian. “Did you come here because Joe Biden was elected president?” “Basically."   Daily Caller

Biden hampered by lack of confirmations . . . President Biden is facing a convergence of challenges without a full complement of agency leaders who would typically oversee efforts on the ground to address them. The administration is searching for solutions to the growing border crisis, but the president has yet to nominate officials to lead Customs and Border Protection, Immigration and Customs Enforcement or U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services — three key components of the immigration system. The Hill

GOP Criticizes Biden for Prioritizing Social Justice Over Working Americans . . . Three top Senate Republicans have voiced concern to the Biden administration’s Labor Department that it is prioritizing social justice above the interests of American workers. Sens. Richard Burr of North Carolina, Mike Crapo of Idaho, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania wrote a letter Thursday responding to the Labor Department’s recent announcement that it would prioritize so-called social, environmental, and governance objectives. The Labor Department said earlier this month that it wouldn’t enforce two rules issued by the Trump administration in 2020, which required private-sector retirement plans to make investment decisions based on the financial interests of workers and retirees regardless how well the companies met environmental or social standards. The Labor Department “should immediately reverse its ill-considered decision to not enforce these rules,” the Republican senators wrote. Daily Signal

Dems vow to go 'bold' — with or without GOP . . . Democrats are warning they won't tolerate GOP stonewalling as they try to make good on their pledge to enact a “bold” agenda and avoid Obama-era missteps.  Democrats face intense pressure not to water down their legislative priorities after years of a backed-up wish list during the Trump-era and a decade since the party has had a unified government it could use to muscle through sweeping reforms considered anathema to the GOP. The plow-ahead strategy is significant with a host of big agenda items looming in the coming months, including sweeping proposals addressing infrastructure needs, climate change and fixes to the Affordable Care Act. The Hill

China's clandestine military buildup to be exposed by US intel agency . . . U.S. public and private researchers are about to get an unprecedented look at the scope of China’s military buildup. The National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, which oversees U.S. spy satellite imagery, is preparing to produce public reports on China’s military and national security programs as part of an intelligence authorization law approved for fiscal year 2021. Disclosure mandate was folded into the $1.4 trillion omnibus spending bill signed into law by Trump. The law calls on Vice Adm. Robert G. Sharp, NGA director, to launch the open-source project on the Chinese military by June 25. Washington Times

China Regularly Abuses NYU Students. NYU Keeps Taking Chinese Money . . . Chinese authorities viciously beat and detained a group of New York University students in Shanghai last week, leading some students to question the university's lucrative dealings with the Chinese regime. Nine students, including six Americans, allege plainclothes Chinese police officers beat and detained them in two separate incidents. Chinese officers kicked one young man in the head and bruised a young woman as they took her into custody after approaching both at a bar. In a separate event, seven other students were taken to Chinese authorities and tested for drug use after sitting in detention for up to 16 hours. Such abuses are not uncommon in the financial relationship between NYU and China either, as the elite university reaps millions from financial agreements with Beijing. Washington Free Beacon

 

Sidney, Australia faces worst floods in 60 years, evacuating thousands . . . Australia was set on Monday to evacuate thousands more people from suburbs in Sydney’s west, battered by the worst flooding in 60 years, with torrential rains expected to continue for another day or two. Reuters images showed submerged intersections, marooned livestock and cars up to their windshields in water, out of which poked the tops of street signs, as three days of rain swelled rivers in the most populous state of New South Wales. Reuters

 

Dark Money Fuels Push to Ditch Filibuster . . . The left-wing group leading a campaign to have Senate Democrats eliminate the filibuster is housed at one of the left's most powerful dark money networks, business records show. Fix Our Senate is steering a coalition of 60 progressive groups to pressure moderate Democrats to eliminate the filibuster, which requires a 60-vote supermajority to advance legislation. The group is a project of the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a nonprofit incubator managed by the D.C.-based consulting firm Arabella Advisors. Arabella's network of funds is used by the nation's wealthiest liberal donors to secretly bankroll a host of progressive initiatives. The coalition has added dozens of groups in recent days as Democrats increase their calls to eliminate the filibuster. Washington Free Beacon

Taiwan urges residents not to change names to 'salmon' for free sushi . . . The Taiwanese government is urging residents not to change their legal names to "salmon" to take advantage of a restaurant's free sushi promotion.

The Taiwan Ministry of the Interior said nearly 100 people have registered to change their names to "salmon" under the country's Name Act to take advantage of restaurant chain Sushiro's promotion, which promises free sushi for customers whose names include the Chinese characters used to spell the name of the fish.

 

The restaurant requires customers taking advantage of the promotion to provide official ID, inspiring some to change their names legally. The ministry urged residents not to change their names for the promotion, pointing out that the Name Act only allows a person to change their name three times -- meaning some of those who change their names for the promotion could be stuck with the name for the rest of their lives. UPI