THE HILL: Holder Media Backlash Intensifies.

Major news outlets lined up to reject Attorney General Eric Holder’s offer of an off-the-record meeting Thursday as his conflict with the press corps escalated.

The New York Times, the Associated Press, The Huffington Post and CNN were the first major outlets to decline the offer, and Fox News, Reuters, CBS News, McClatchy and NBC News followed. The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, ABC News and Politico have said they plan on attending the meeting. The boycotting news outlets said that the Department of Justice’s insistence that the media groups not report on the content of the discussions violated their journalistic guidelines or was a conflict of interest.

He chose poorly.

THE HILL: Poll: Hillary Clinton’s favorability rating dives amid Benghazi probe. “One reason for her drop may be that 48 percent of voters blame her either a little or a lot for the death of the American ambassador in Benghazi.” Ya think?

PETER INGEMI: “The Syrian Civil war is becoming very hard for me.”

REMEMBER WHEN DEMS WERE LECTURING US ON CIVILITY? Pennsylvania Lawmaker Admits To Anonymous Online Posts Attacking Pro-Fracking Constituents:

HARRISBURG — A state lawmaker on Thursday acknowledged making anonymous and fictitious online posts attacking constituents who support shale-gas drilling in Washington County and said he intends to apologize to two people for anything he wrote that was “offensive or hurtful.”

Residents and the industry group Energy in Depth accused Rep. Jesse White, D-Cecil, of using aliases to call his critics “mouth breathers” and to call local industry supporters, including senior citizens, “hucksters.”

White repeatedly has clashed with gas drilling companies and blamed them on Thursday for targeting him with “misleading and personal attacks” from multimillion-dollar industry groups promoting Marcellus shale.

Have you noticed that the stuff they complain about always seems to be the stuff that they get caught doing?

JOHN EASTMAN: IRS Commits Political Sabotage. “The world is learning about the corruption of the IRS in targeting conservative groups, including various Tea Party organizations, for heightened scrutiny. But the corruption goes much deeper than harassing groups seeking first time non-profit designations, into actively sabotaging existing non-profit groups by releasing confidential information.”

HIGHER EDUCATION BUBBLE UPDATE: College Majors, Unemployment, and Earnings. STEM does best, but before going into a lot of debt even for a STEM degree, remember: Engineers get laid off, too.

THIS MUST BE MORE OF THAT “SMART DIPLOMACY” WE WERE PROMISED: 2 US diplomats shot outside Venezuelan strip club, pair ‘were fighting with each other.’

ANSWER: WE’RE NOT READY: Asteroid fly-by on Friday sparks debate over readiness for ‘Armageddon’-style event.

ROGER SIMON: Blogging from the 51st State: Day 1 — Making the Blind See.

WHY AM I NOT SURPRISED? Argentinian prosecutor alleges extensive Iranian terror activity in South America. “The Argentinian prosecutor in charge of investigating the bombing at the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires on July 18, 1994, has accused Iran of infiltrating several South American countries and building intelligence stations from which terrorist attacks could be planned and carried out. Alberto Nisman issued a 502-page indictment on Wednesday placing responsibility for the bombing, which killed 85 people, on the highest authorities in the Islamic Republic.” So drone ’em.

POLL SHOWS ENGLAND WANTS ITS GUNS BACK: “The United Kingdom is often held up as a successful example of gun control by those on the left. But a recent poll by the Daily Telegraph, one of England’s most widely-read publications, shows Britons themselves are far from sold on the laws.”

ADVICE: Don’t Sell Your Pension.

WHEN ADMINISTRATORS GO WILD: Gordon Gee rips ND, Catholics. “The president of Ohio State University said Notre Dame never was invited to join the Big Ten because the university’s priests are not good partners, joking that ‘those damn Catholics’ can’t be trusted, according to a recording of a meeting he attended late last year.”

NEW TREND: Laughter Yoga.

MEMORIES: 207 years ago today, Andrew Jackson — the future President — committed “a brutal, cold-blooded killing.” Before that, Andrew Jackson challenged John Sevier to a duel in Knoxville, but it “dissolved into slapstick worthy of YouTube.” That’s just as well for Jackson, as I think Sevier would have taken him easily.

52 THINGS, 52 WEEKS: Sara Ellis Tries Archery And Skeet Shooting.

CORY DOCTOROW: What My Father Taught Me.

AT AMAZON, 20% off on Men’s Summer Clothes. Shirts, shorts, shoes, the works.

SECRET HISTORIES: Sex Lives Of Renaissance Artists.

NEWS YOU CAN USE: How To Ask For What You Want In The Bedroom.

RACISM IN HIGHER EDUCATION:

A community activist is challenging Gov. Deval Patrick’s pick for board chairman at the troubled Roxbury Community College because the new leader is white, but the administration is standing by the appointment.

Sadiki Kambon, who said he represents a group called Friends of Roxbury Community College, sent Patrick a letter Monday demanding that Gerald Chertavian, who was named board chairman last week, be replaced by “another qualified candidate (Black).”

“It’s important for our young people to see someone who looks like us who is the position of leadership in our academic community. We feel that someone from our community has the skill set necessary to run that institution,” Kambon told the Herald. Kambon declined to identify other members of his group, which sent the letter to Patrick earlier this week. The letter labels the governor’s selection of Chertavian, who is white, “insulting” because the college is a “predominantly Black institution.”

It’s sad to see such open and unapologetic racism in 21st century America.

21ST CENTURY RELATIONSHIPS: Mom/Daughter Porn Stars Seeking Dad/Son Porn Team For Good Times.

Related: This Just In: You Can Have A Dolphin Birth Your Baby. “I can think of nothing more terrifying than the thought of my newborn baby drowning/getting carried away by an aggressive dolphin (because sometimes they do that). ”

UPDATE: Reader Rich Andrews writes: “If a dolphin assists in a human birth is that considered a sea section?”

GOOD QUESTION: Why Did the FBI Kill an Unarmed Man and Clam Up? Law enforcement can’t get its story straight in the worrisome case of Ibragim Todashev.

ARE THESE KINDS OF THOUGHTS ALLOWED? Incendiary Thought: Men Don’t Whine About Work-Life Balance, They Just Get It Done.

This is discussed in the Insta-Wife’s new book, Men On Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream – and Why It Matters.

QUINNIPIAC POLL: Obama’s Job Approval Drops to 45%, 76% Want IRS Special Prosecutor.