YES, I REGARD THIS AS APPLE’S BIGGEST PROBLEM BY FAR: Major investors push Apple execs to be more diverse: “It’s all white men.” I mean, when has anyone ever built a successful tech company with a bunch of white men?

NEWS YOU CAN USE: Why Hugging is Essential to Your Relationship.

THE EUROPEAN MODEL: Unemployed in Europe Stymied by Lack of Technology Skills. “After a five-year economic crisis, the mismatch represents one of the thorniest problems facing Ireland and many other European countries. Hundreds of thousands of people who lost work, and many young people entering the work force, are finding that their skills are ill suited to a huge crop of innovation-based jobs springing up across the Continent.”

AT AMAZON, Deals in Patio, Lawn & Garden.

Also, Digital Deals Galore.

I’LL BE ON FOX BUSINESS’S THE INDEPENDENTS AT ABOUT 9:30 TONIGHT, talking about . . . wait for it, wait for it . . . education and my new book. Tune in to see how I manage to reconcile proper TV attire with necessary warmth.

BLOGGER SCOTT CHAFFIN, AKA “THE FAT GUY,” has cancer and needs help. I sent him a hundred bucks. (Via Bill Quick).

HOW THE NSA nearly killed the Internet. “The hard-earned trust that the tech giants had spent years building was in danger of evaporating—and they seemed powerless to do anything about it. Legally gagged, they weren’t free to provide the full context of their cooperation or resistance. Even the most emphatic denial—a blog post by Google CEO Larry Page and chief legal officer David Drummond headlined, ‘What the …’—did not quell suspicions. How could it, when an NSA slide indicated that anyone’s personal information was just one click away?”

I WONDER IF ANYONE’S BURGLED THE CINCINNATI IRS OFFICE? Burglars Who Took On F.B.I. Abandon Shadows.

NO. NEXT QUESTION? Will Obamacare Inspire Small-Business Ownership? Something that didn’t suck might inspire small-business ownership. But ObamaCare, by all appearances, sucks.

LIFE: After I saw this, I put down my phone and didn’t pick it up for the rest of the day…

GOOD. LAUNCH A SPOILING ATTACK: Rubio to Outline Anti-Poverty Reforms.

Senator Marco Rubio (R., Fla.) will deliver a speech at the Capitol on Tuesday to discuss reforming federal anti-poverty programs and increasing income mobility in the United States. The speech is intended to mark the 50th anniversary of President Lyndon Johnson’s “War on Poverty.”

President Obama and congressional Democrats have made clear that they want to make income inequality a central issue heading into the 2014 midterms, but Rubio and other Republicans such as Paul Ryan aim to make sure the debate is not one-sided. Ryan, for his part, will deliver keynote remarks at next week’s Social Mobility Summit at the Brookings Institute.

Sen. Mike Lee, who’s had some interesting ideas, should get involved, too.

CONTROL: High-end CNC machines can’t be moved without manufacturers’ permission. “Effectively, this means that machinists’ shops can’t rearrange their very expensive, very large tools to improve their workflow from job to job without getting permission from the manufacturer (which can take a month!), even if their own the gear. According to posts in the thread, many manufacturers have introduced this lockdown feature because their goods have found their way into Iran, violating the embargo. So now these machines can’t be moved at all without the manufacturer’s knowledge and consent, a situation that the manufacturers have turned into a business-opportunity by using the technology to assist in repossessing machines from delinquent lease-payers — and requiring permission for privilege of deciding where to place their key capital assets.”

BOB GATES ON JOE BIDEN: “I think he has been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”

YA THINK? There’s A Pattern At MSNBC of Hiring Black Mediocrities.

UPDATE: From the comments: “Well, it isn’t as if they’ve hired the best and the brightest whites, either.” Hey I used to work for them. . . .

NANOTECHNOLOGY UPDATE: Nanoparticle That Mimics Red Blood Cell Shows Promise as Vaccine for Bacterial Infections.

BLOWBACK: University of Texas at Dallas Terminates Membership in American Studies Association.

UPDATE: From the comments: “Hey! Hey! ASA! How many schools did you lose today?”

Also: “The American Studies Association is neither American nor a studies association.” Heh.

WASHINGTON POST: Robert Gates, former defense secretary, offers harsh critique of Obama’s leadership. “In a new memoir, former defense secretary Robert Gates unleashes harsh judgments about President Obama’s leadership and his commitment to the Afghanistan war, writing that by early 2010 he had concluded the president ‘doesn’t believe in his own strategy, and doesn’t consider the war to be his. For him, it’s all about getting out.'”

THE KINDLE VERSION OF AMITY SHLAES’ THE FORGOTTEN MAN is on sale for $2.99.

MARK RIPPETOE: The Best Exercise For Strengthening Your Shoulders. “Pressing a barbell overhead has somehow acquired the reputation as a dangerous exercise for the shoulders. Doctors and physical therapists routinely advise against the exercise weightlifters refer to as simply The Press on the false assumption that an injury known as ‘shoulder impingement’ is the inevitable result. Not only is the press perfectly safe for the shoulders — as evidenced by the fact that shoulder injuries are the least-common injuries for Olympic weightlifters who use the barbell overhead — but the correctly performed press is the best exercise for keeping shoulders strong. Here’s why.”

I used to have shoulder problems, but I overhead-press twice a week and my shoulders are the best they’ve ever been.

JOE PAPPALARDO: A Disgraced Air Force General’s Last Interview: What a fired commander’s last words say about the state of America’s nuclear missiles.

At the time, Carey was Commander of the 20th Air Force, which controls America’s land-based nuclear missiles. He was in town to meet with members of NASDAQ, where we would ring the opening bell in September, and a visit to PopMech happened to fit his schedule. Carey toured the office, checked out our view of Central Park, and sat for an interview about