Ministry Slaps Down Nova

[Iraira]

I think you should skin and eat one of the PETA people. It'd save an animal and contribute to society at large

I like your idea. Without having to refer to the cannibal thread, just incase it is Friday or near Passover, when I filet me a person who cannot form meaningful relationships with other humans and therefore takes on extreme animal causes, as animals will probably not reject them, like their drunk daddy and mommy did...see a fuckin' shrink for chrissakes and let me eat my burgers....where was I? Oh yeah, are humans Kosher?

[Mike Oxlong]

You fellas don't read Rolling Stone?

[Iraira]

You fellas don't read Rolling Stone?

That Pig Mountain picture is great, reminded me of the last orgy I attended.

[ttjereth]

I like your idea. Without having to refer to the cannibal thread, just incase it is Friday or near Passover, when I filet me a person who cannot form meaningful relationships with other humans and therefore takes on extreme animal causes, as animals will probably not reject them, like their drunk daddy and mommy did...see a fuckin' shrink for chrissakes and let me eat my burgers....where was I? Oh yeah, are humans Kosher?

Depends on how they're slaughtered I suppose?

Or is that halal? I dunno, but if it's PETA it can't be too much of a sin.

[ttjereth]

You fellas don't read Rolling Stone?

Honestly? Not if I can help it.

I do like this quote though:

"The animal-rights people," he once said, "want to impose a vegetarian's society on the U.S. Most vegetarians I know are neurotic."

I do somewhat agree with it with my emphasis.

The pig-guy is a dick, but what he does is something that rational people can object to, Things that PETA often object to and their methods of doing so are generally not rational or acceptable by rational human beings.

But I think we're in danger of starting another thread here. Isn't there already a thread here on the PETA wackos who stand around naked outside KFC every year?

[Iraira]

Depends on how they're slaughtered I suppose?

Or is that halal? I dunno, but if it's PETA it can't be too much of a sin.

Maybe I'll just throw gefilte fish on them. Speaking of that, aside from the Israeli place in Egota, does anyone know where I can get a good kishike (stuff cow's intestine) in Tokyo? Mom wants to know that I(m eating well enough to completely clog my arteries by the time I'm 50....damn that stretchy umbillical cord running along the bottom of the Pacific.

[ttjereth]

And because I feel slightly bad about being so off topic:


http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20071211zg.html
'Eikaiwa' firms face Nova fallout

With some actually decent points amongst the usual tripe:

You keep hearing about needing to make the effort at elementary schools and high schools and that is where it is really going to hurt, because you're not going to get people staying for longer than a few years and actually developing into teachers who can fully function with regards to the needs of Japanese students," Worsley explained. "When you don't have health (insurance) and any benefits, you're never going to keep any long-term teachers. "That makes me think that the government is kind of only paying lip service to the idea of English language education. If they were concerned they would be doing something now to make up for the inaction of the '70s and '80s.

[2triky]

I'd dress like a monkey to get close to Kuriyama Chiaki





Interesting side note: A search for "monchichi" on google images turns up an unusual number of pictures of the Olsen twins

Nice pics and funny side note

[Mulboyne]

Let's Japan has a piece on how the new owners are having a hard time with their new acquisition and are cutting costs. (Spotted on Japan Probe)

[unkosando]

[YT]FqggWsoEsVo[/YT]

[canman]

So the gov't is now going to step in and give each Nova student up to Y200 000 to pay for English lessons at G-Com. According the the Japan Probe site G-Com is already in big trouble, so is this just another bailout for the company. That is going to add up to a lot of cash if all the students take advantage of this pay out. I notice how they can only get the money if they study at G-Com! They must have some good friends in the LDP.
http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/426221

[kusai Jijii]

I gotta stop reading this thread. My blood pressure has just shot through the fucking roof!:devil2:

[Mike Oxlong]

From reading the link from Canman, I don't think the government is giving 200,000 yen to just any ex-student of NOVA. They have to be on the gov't training/education program, and lost out on their chance of completion due to the bankruptcy of NOVA. They can go on to complete the English education they started at NOVA by enrolling at G-Com. They will get the subsidy if and only if they complete their studies (money they would have received anyway by finished up at NOVA).

The "subsidy for education and training" program, introduced in 1998, facilitates workers studying a foreign language or acquiring other skills at schools designated by the labor ministry.

But applicants must complete the study or training courses they have selected in order to receive the money. The requirement makes it impossible for the former Nova students to benefit from the program since the school went bankrupt in the middle of their courses.

To cope with the situation, the ministry has decided to permit the payment, as an exceptional case, to the students if they obtain certificates of completion issued by G.communication, the sources said.

[kusai Jijii]

In any case, I am absolutely gob-smacked that "courses" offered by Nova even qualified for public funding. I've got nothing against broad social welfare programs, and I strongly support initiatives that attempt to offer some solutions to the growing number of people who seem to have been left behind in Japan's push for 'restructuring'. However, as a tax payer, I could not think of a less "educational" insitution on the face of this planet than Nova. This really does stink of something.

[Mike Oxlong]

KJ, AFAIK the students could go to any eikaiwa that met government appoval, be it GEOS or Berlitz or whatever. IIRC it was for unemployed people to retrain or upgrade skills so as to better be able to find employment down the line. At least in principle.

[Mulboyne]

Mulb, have you encountered any writings that show a trend in the government to expose shady business practices? This is great news and long overdue - sarakin, eikaiwa, real estate brokers/landlords have been exploiting the J-public for far too long.

Yomiuri: LDP panel proposes consumer agency

A Liberal Democratic Party panel on consumer issues presented a draft of its final report Wednesday, proposing the establishment of a new agency charged with sole responsibility for devising and implementing consumer-related policies. The Research Commission on Consumer Issues, chaired by LDP House of Representatives member Seiko Noda, proposes giving the new agency powerful authority, including the power to conduct inspections at companies whose products are found responsible for accidents involving consumers and to confiscate profits obtained by firms through unlawful methods. According to the draft, the agency will be headed by a state minister, and divisions in charge of consumer affairs that are currently under the Cabinet Office, the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry, and other entities will be transferred to the new agency.

The new agency will mainly comprise two departments: one responsible for preventing unlawful sales schemes, and the other for ensuring the safety of food, home electrical appliances and other products. The agency will have an internal committee of consumer affairs specialists, which will make recommendations to the consumer affairs minister regarding inspections and the confiscation of profits. The committee also will propose revising laws and taking other legislative action as deemed necessary. The draft report recommends that the functions of consumer affairs centers run by local governments should be strengthened to improve local consultation systems for consumers. The agency will closely cooperate with the National Consumer Affairs Center of Japan, which will quickly relay information about accidents to the agency to limit any potential harm.

[Mulboyne]

[ttjereth]

Kyodo via Japan Today: Nova successor claims other English schools are poaching students

It's good to see that the new owners are working hard to distance themselves from the past problems and scandals of Nova...

/sarcasm

[GomiGirl]

Isn't this just "competition"?

That is like saying that the sprukers outside Yodabashi Camera are trying to poach Bic Camera customers by offering awards, points and other incentives.

[Mulboyne]

[Charles]

Kyodo via Japan Today: Foreign teachers at Nova successor say they are suffering unreasonable dismissals

I liked this story.

A 51-year-old British man said...his wife is pregnant.

[kusai Jijii]

[Takechanpoo]

"We have no life for 16 years!!!"
[YT]5FeDG9DYRag[/YT]
I want to employ this yelling woman as my mother. I really think so.

[Takechanpoo]

English instructor Mova!:lol:

[Tsuru]

Is that Julia Roberts?

[IkemenTommy]

Is that Julia Roberts?

Janett Mova, don't you know? Takechan gets private one-on-one lessons all the time.

[Greji]

Takechan gets private one-on-one lessons all the time.

Yup, but the problem is he is one, then he has to run around the bed to be the other one. It is a very difficult one-on-one for him...

[Taro Toporific]

[floatl][/floatl]
Charges dropped against Nova, Sahashi for failing to pay teachers' wages
Mainichi - July 30, 2008
OSAKA -- Prosecutors have dropped charges against Nova and its former President Nozomu Sahashi for failing to pay wages to 400 foreign instructors and other employees of the English language school chain, law enforcers said.
The Osaka District Public Prosecutors Office has decided not to indict Sahashi, 56, who had been referred to prosecutors on suspicion of violating the Labor Standards Law. Prosecutors judged that Nova's business situation was deteriorating at the time and it cannot be held responsible for failing to pay wages to its employees...more....

[FG Lurker]

Prosecutors judged that Nova's business situation was deteriorating at the time and it cannot be held responsible for failing to pay wages to its employees

I think that might be a polite way of saying, "The gov't fucked up and greatly accelerated the NOVA implosion with their poorly thought out sanctions. We'd really sooner this didn't come out during a very public trial so we'll just drop the charges and hope no one figures it out."

[kusai Jijii]

Just sitting here wondering if there are any ex-Nova dudes (like the ones in the paper offering to teach for food etc) who are still in Japan and on these boards. How are you getting on? What are you doing now? Care to share your story? Oh prey tell!!!!:drool5: