>Unfortuantely, other than the speed issue you bring up - assuming it is true, there is not one single bona-fide/rationale reason listed above for the decision you are making.

I think you're downplaying the similarities to Java and C++ that C#. Pick up books on UML, nTier, Design Patterns, and AOP; what languages are they based on?

Being familiar with the ECMA standard C# will be much more benificial than familiarity with VB.NET. That doesn't mean you can't use both (which I think you and I are in agreement on) but this whole "you don't need C#, the black art language" or whatever you're on is poor advice.