Write-Offs: 09.03.13
$$$S&P Slams Justice Department Suit as 'Retaliation' for Downgrade [WSJ]
$$$ In a filing with the U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California, S&P said the lawsuit attempts to punish it for exercising its First Amendment free speech rights under the U.S. Constitution, but also seeks "excessive fines" in violation of the Eighth Amendment. It said the government's "impermissibly selective, punitive and meritless" lawsuit was brought "in retaliation for defendants' exercise of their free speech rights with respect to the creditworthiness of the United States of America." [Reuters]
$$$ Dick Parsons may be the world’s only person to own a Tuscan vineyard and a restaurant and jazz supper club in Harlem. “My passions are wine, food and music and it all came together,” the ex-chairman of Citigroup and former chairman and chief executive of Time Warner. The Cecil is scheduled to open at 210 W. 118th St. on Sept. 23, featuring chef/partner Alexander Smalls’ Afro-Asian-American brasserie. The idea, Parsons said, is to integrate the culinary traditions of the African Diaspora — topped off with wines from the Tuscan vineyard. [NYP]
$$$SAC Capital looking at just managing insider capital [CNBC]
$$$ My sources tell me that playing soccer with Prince William 'can make you think he has tourettes' such is the volume and intensity of foul-mouthed expletives that pour forth from the royal mouth when the passionate footballer flubs a kick, so perhaps wisely the Prince will only be watching, not playing, when Buckingham Palace hosts its first ever game game of soccer in the palace gardens on Monday 7 October to pay tribute to 150 volunteers that "help deliver and support" the UK’s favourite game. [TDB]
$$$Texas Hedge Fund Takes a Big Stake in J.C. Penney [Dealbook]
$$$Planned LinkedIn $1 billion stock offer is for expansion, products [Reuters]
$$$A Field Guide To The Perfect Nap [WSJ]