Yes, kids — it’s Derby Day again!  And as is tradition, we have for you the Kentucky Derby Open Thread.  Because it can’t be all ecological disasters and Republican dumbfuckery and totally-random traffic stops in Phoenix here at Stinque.  After all: degenerate gambling, especially on Sport, is what makes America great.  (That, and the Bill of Rights and the ample amounts of food and  the national parks and all that.)

Handicapping this is a total mess, because the track is… a total mess.  Rain — lots of it — hit Louisville overnight, and is forecast to continue.  My best guess at it is Super Saver, Devil May Care (a lady horse!) and American Lion (4-11-7 on your picksheets).  But with the usual twenty-horse field, it’s a total guess.  (Dartboards, oddly enough, have twenty divisions, which are numbered for your convenience.  Have at it.)

Post time at 1828 ET.  Fire away.

Wingnut blogs are having a feeding frenzy today, as the National Enquirer re-breaks an old rumor from 2008:

Reports out of Washington, DC: PRESIDENT OBAMA in a shocking cheating scandal after being caught in a Washington, DC Hotel with a former campaign aide.

A confidential investigation has learned that Obama first became close to gorgeous 35 year-old VERA BAKER in 2004 when she worked tirelessly to get him elected to the US Senate, raising millions in campaign contributions.

While Baker has insisted in the past that “nothing happened” between them, reports reveal that top anti-Obama operatives are offering more than $1 million to witnesses to reveal what they know about the alleged hush-hush affair.

Among those being offered money is a limo driver who says in 2004 that he took Vera to a secret hotel rendezvous in where Obama was staying.

An ENQUIRER reporter has confirmed the limo driver’s account of the secret 2004 rendezvous.

As we’ve learned from John Edwards’ tryst with the alien baby momma, you can’t dismiss Enquirer reports out of hand — even when dealing with a fair-game elected politician, you figure they’ve run every syllable past the lawyers.

So what are they actually reporting?

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“The Arizona state Senate on Thursday passed a bill making it illegal for a person to ‘intentionally or knowingly creating a human-animal hybrid.'” [Politico]

Making half the recipe using cod – this is not the precise recipe in Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Vol. 1, but it is almost verbatim. I added a bit about meat glaze at the end – this is from the book.

Thon à la Provençale

3 pounds fresh tuna or swordfish steaks about ¾-inch thick
1 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup olive oil, divided
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup onions, peeled and minced
3 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon thyme
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 cup dry white wine or 2/3 cup dry vermouth
1 to 2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon butter, softened
3 tablespoons chopped parsley
Remove skin from the fish, and cut into serving-size portions. Whisk together the salt, lemon juice, 6 tablespoons olive oil and 1/8 teaspoon pepper. Arrange the fish in a large dish in one layer, pour marinade over the fish and marinate 1½ to 2 hours, turning occasionally. Drain the fish, and dry thoroughly on paper towels. Discard the marinade.

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Paramount To Film Mattel’s Magic 8 Ball [Deadline New York]