Barack Obama's gangster nickname should be Barry Pineapples.

You've refuted nothing. Let's do another lap. You believe informational texts will better prepare students for the type of writing they'll need to do in the working world.  I believe reading and analyzing classics produces higher quality writers because they know what great writing looks like.  In raw utilitarian terms, reading and writing about Shakespeare and Homer made me a more productive participant in the economy.  It didn't matter that I wasn't trained in "business writing". In fact, it may have helped that I wasn't trained in it. 

You've refuted nothing. Let's do another lap. You believe informational texts will better prepare students for the type of writing they'll need to do in the working world.  I believe reading and analyzing classics produces higher quality writers because they know what great writing looks like.  In raw utilitarian terms, reading and writing about Shakespeare and Homer made me a more productive participant in the economy.  It didn't matter that I wasn't trained in "business writing". In fact, it may have helped that I wasn't trained in it. 

You've refuted nothing. Let's do another lap. You believe informational texts will better prepare students for the type of writing they'll need to do in the working world.  I believe reading and analyzing classics produces higher quality writers because they know what great writing looks like.  In raw utilitarian terms, reading and writing about Shakespeare and Homer made me a more productive participant in the economy.  It didn't matter that I wasn't trained in "business writing". In fact, it may have helped that I wasn't trained in it. 

On 2, can you link the thread you're referring to? Want to understand your argument.

On 3. Since you insist on making the utilitarian argument, I'll relate my experience:  I had a traditional liberal arts education in high school and college.  We read very little that was written after 1950. Now, I write for a living,  and do it better than most of my colleagues. I've created research reports, blogs, and marketing copy on top of all the e-mails that every office job requires these days.  Do you see a connection?

Well, a few things:

1. The quality of the prose in the classics is going to be far better than a modern informational text. Reading superior prose is like push-ups for your brain.

2. Simply consuming information won't improve your ability to evaluate the strength or weakness of an argument.  Learning the fundamentals of logic and how to identify common fallacies (as you do in the liberal arts tradition) will do that.

3. The purpose of Language Arts/English Lit courses is to give students a) broad understanding of culture & art b) the ability to communicate and persuade clearly and effectively. Focusing more on informational texts seems like it detracts from a) significantly and at best will not improve on b).

 4. Informational texts are already read in History, Science, and Civics classes.  Why do students need more of it? Most modern textbooks are boring and/or represent a liberal worldview. 

Some might say an education that prioritized classical texts over informational texts would make a student FAR BETTER at differentiating truth from lies than the average person.

Agreed. I also hate how every glass of ice water or iced tea has that obviously fake plastic ice in it.  I know, you have to shoot the same scene over and over and can't have the ice melt to nothing over a 3 minute scene in a cafe.  But the alternative is more jarring to the viewer than the alternative and how hard is it to replace the ice in a drink in between takes?

ObamaHug-Gate didn't win him any points with me. On substance, Christie strikes me as ignorant on economic policy (quite a bit different from fiscal matters).  However, can you think of anyone who you'd rather have negotiate anything on your behalf? Next car/house/tv I buy, Christie's coming with me.

Sexist! Why can't it be a middle-aged woman of color?

All this is ridiculous though, don't these idiots know that the appreciation of ethnic food (even if its an imperfect representation of the cuisine as a whole) is a crucial step in the process of integrating of a different culture into America and ultimately increases harmony and all that crap? 

I heard that corned beef only entered the Irish diet in America because it was cheap and available at many a Kosher Deli in New York and other metropoli where the survivors of the Potato Famine settled.

Along that line, my 4-year-old refers to "tomorrow morning" as "tomorning"

I've often wondered what it would be like to shoot candidates up with sodium pentathol before they walk into an interview or better yet debate one another.

On the issue of strip-clubs in general, they (along with prostitution, pornography, most recreational drugs, and the show Glee ) fall into the category of stuff I wished did not exist at all but would never make illegal because they're that much worse for all involved when prohibited. 

I'm a pretty severe social conservative, but (with the exception of  general defense of life, liberty, and property) I'm not so sure how helpful the codification into law of my moral values would be. 

The forces of liberty have few enough allies as it is (especially in your neck of the woods, James). I'd rather have a UKIP pimp than a chaste pinko in office any day.

Also, is anyone under the impression that the reporters grilling Farage really care about the icky way one of his candidates makes a living? They're using it as a club to keep UKIP from endangering any precious part of the Leviathan State and Farage refused to play the game.