Relicensed to drive

Well if today’s subject is going to be driving, I might as well take this opportunity to address the issue of Israeli and international driving licenses. A lot of people are confused about whether they need an international license to drive abroad or whether their Israeli licenses alone are enough. Many have heard of people being arrested for driving with just their Israeli licenses.

So first let me point out that different countries (and different States in the US) have different law regarding who they allow to drive with a foreign license unaccompanied by an international license if at all. The advantage to the Israeli license is that the information is written on it in English in addition to hebrew so that a US or British policeman doesn’t have to try and guess as to whether the foreign script on the card means you’re a rotary club member, licensed to drive, or licensed to kill.
On the flip side, the biggest problem with the Israeli license is the loaded wording. Israeli licenses are called “permits” which while all fine and well denotatively, is problematic in those places (such as New York State for example) where a permit is not a license but merely permission for a student driver to do their practice driving under certain conditions (such as with an adult with a valid NY State driving license) in the car with them. Therefore there was a problem awhile back where Israeli drivers were being arrested in New York City for driving with their Israeli licenses simply because of the wording.

To me the isue doesn’t seem worth fighting over. On a recent trip to the US I decided to go check out the cost of an international driver’s license and discovered that it cost a measly 13 shekels to get one and you get it on the spot. Essentially all it is is an internationally recognized document you keep with your license to tell foreign police that you’re a licensed driver in your home country.

Flash red not green

I was listening to a program this evening on Reshet Bet about road safety.  The discussion panel spent a good 10 minutes discussing whether there should or shouldn’t be a flashing green light before it changes at a crossroads.  Those who argued in favor of keeping it said that cancelling it out altogether will give no warning and have people crossing on red.  It seems to me that this is a misguided way of thinking.  IMHO leave the flashing light – but make it red.  A flashing green light is a temptation to a driver: “quickly the light is green you can still get past legally but you’re going to have to speed up to make it while I’m still this color.”  A flashing red light on the other hand sends the message “no more crossing, this light is red already.  If you’re already partway through rush out before I’m a solid red if you haven’t reached the crossing yet might as well slow down because there’s a red light ahead of you.

The point of the flashing light should be to put the driver’s mindset in a stop/slow down mode, not jolt him into a “hurry up and finish what you’re doing now” mode.

Entertainment to blight on cable and sattelite

Hello. My name’s Moshe and I’m a TVholic.

That’s what I could have said just a few years ago. I was a TV addict (maybe not of the worst kind but) who could compete with the best of them on sitcom trivia. When cable TV first came to this country I totally drowned in it (unfortunately so have many others which could explain the level drop I see in education and Jewish/Israeli culture but that’s an issue for another day and another posting). At a certain point though I just cut it off cold turkey. No it wasn’t for religous reasons (though there are certainly enough reasons there to justify doing so but simply because

1) it was taking up too much of my of time just because (as Edmund Hillary
said in another context) it’s there
2) for half the price of a monthly subscription to a number of English/Hebrew channels and a larger number of foreign language channels or channels I won’t watch for other reasons (which costs you roughly 200 nis a month give or take a bit) I could get a deal at my local Blockbuster giving me 2 movies a week.

3) with all the reruns and other junk being put on (or these days being moved to the extra package channels that you have to pay additional money to get) its unlikely that you’ll find more than 3 hours (2 movies worth) of must see TV in a month on the basic channels anyhow if you’re honest with yourself.

4) News media in English can be seen online when you want it (www.cnn.com www.bbc.uk
etc.) assuming you find it critical to see cars as they blow up and people being arrested for whatever reason rather than just hear about it.

5) there’s stuff even on the kids channel that I wouldn’t watch let alone risk my kids getting to it. Not for religious reasons but for low level trash reasons [anyone remember "the rebels" ("hamordim") for example]? Using a video and DVD gives me a filter whereby I can spend the otherwise monthly 200 nis or so on educational TV programs (or at least not smut) instead of sitting them in front of the cartoon network.

So I decided to take my TV viewing into my own hands and have never looked back. I’m not saying this will work for everyone (yes it was hard to cut off TV cold turkey) but I can say that
1) I find it harder to justify even movies that I really want to see to the extent of walking over to get them so why should i spend time zombied out by movies I don’t want to simply because they’re there?
2) my oldest child is at the top of her class (advanced group) in math and
Hebrew and has been reading and writing English and Hebrew since age 5
without going to a class and without any structured teaching whatsoever by
myself (and in case you were wondering my wife’s Israeli and speaks only
Hebrew to them) thanks to videos such as sesame street and between the lions
etc. bought with money not spent on cable or sattelite and
3) I have been asked to work for 2 different publications during that period of time
covering news based on what they saw as my awareness of up-to-the-minute
news. So yes one can survive even if one has to resort to radical measures
like reading books for entertainment occasionally.

And finally here are some refutations to likely arguments against this option
1) “Well not everyone has a high-powered career that takes up all their
time”
Answer – I’ve never had a high-powerd career and even while unemployed I saw no need to stare at whatever the cable/satellite people think I ought to watch. There’s family to be with (and no – watching TV together with the family is not actually communication), meals to make, dishes to wash, laundries to do etc. etc. and of course blogging for you readers whoever you may be.
I’m amazed and even quite jealous :- ) at the sheer amounts of free time that so many apparently have to not only watch all these programs they mention but debate about it online – and still have time for all the other necessary activities of life. I wish I could budget my time that well!

2 ) “I’ll miss my beloved (fill in program) too much”
Many of the top English language programs have their whole series on DVD at
blockbuster. OK so maybe I’m a season or so behind on the likes of 24 and
the sopranos but I’m also getting things done instead of sitting around
“just to see what comes after the episode” of whatever I wanted to watch.

3) “Walk to the DVD place?…it’s such a shlep…”
Answer: if you’re not excited enough about watching something you yourself
CHOOSE to see then you’re probably not that in need of watching anything and
are just doing it for something to do. Buy a few DVDs (you can buy 8-10
used ones for the price of a month of cable) you really like and when you
just want something to veg in front of then put one on. You’ll either get
into it (and then no loss) or get bored and go find something else to do.
If you really HAVE to watch something it’ll be enough of a goad to get you
to go to blockbuster.

It’s up to you. Either you can stay at the mercy of the 2 monopolies (cable and sattelite) and watch whatever they give you for whatever price they offer or you can take control
of what you watch when you watch it and what you have available for your
kids to access in your home.

An Item of Notary

I often see people asking on forums where they can find a US notary in their proximity so that they don’t have to shlep over to the embassy in Tel Aviv and pay for their notary services. The answers given are generally wrong. Following is information I received from 2 local US notaries on this issue AFTER having first shelled out money to have the notarization done by a local American notary.

1) Being both a US citizen and a licensed notary does NOT make you an American notary (obvious you’d think, but you’d be suprised how often when the question arises people in my town are referred to an Israeli licensed notary just because they know she’s American born)

2) Even those who ARE licensed US notaries are ONLY allowed to notarize while physically present in the state in which they’re licensed to notarize (possibly in the embassy as well but if you’re going to the embassy why drag a notary along?). Therefore for those matters that don’t require that the person whose document it is be present when the signing is done, US notaries can sign and claim they did it while abroad and physically in the state in which they’re licensed. However, if your document needs to be notarized with you physically present then your only choice is the embassy.

Should you wish to take the risk of having a non-embassy notary sign it you do so at your own risk and may well end up (as I once did) paying money only to have the whole thing rejected and sent back to you from the US department requiring the notarization with a notice that they only accept notarization abroad from an embassy notary. Thus not only have you paid for a useless service but you’ve delayed the process you wanted to get done and still have to go to the embassy.

Therefore check carefully as to whether your document requires your physical presence during notarization before deciding how to proceed. if you’re unsure and can’t get a concrete answer then best not to take the risk.

Cellphones and the NIMBY problem

A list member on a forum I’m on wrote to the list this week warning of the dangers of cellphone antennas in residential areas.  It seems that one of the cellphone companies placed an antenna in her building and now she’s frantic about the possible dangers she’s exposed to.  Upon question she admitted that she’s a cellphone user herself but would be willing to accept worse reception in order to get rid of this antenna.

It seems to me that this hypocrisy is a classic example of NIMBY (Not In My BackYard).  It’s one thing for someone like myself to object to cellphone antennas (I refuse to have one of the electronic slave collars even if I’m the last in Israel to remain without one).  But for someone who uses a cellphone to object to having an antenna in their own building seems to me hypocritical.  Yes, I realize there are those of you who’ll say “well a phone is a minor power source but an antenna is far more powerful energy source and far more likely to cause damage to those in its immediate area.”  This is true but the antennas still have to be SOMEwhere in order to be of any use and they have to be in proximity to where there are users (what use is an antenna stuck somewhere out in the field?  Do cows need to have good reception while reporting their milk supply in to the dairy?!)

The question is only one of who suffers in order that the majority have good reception.  It seems to me that anyone who has a cellphone enters themselves into a lottery for this risk.  To expect good reception wherever one goes yet object to others getting it in their own area seems to me hypocrisy.

Introduction

This is my first blogging post of what I hope will become a useful work in progress. It’s possible (even likely) that over time I may change the blog name (if you can do that) or at least direction. i’m sort of feeling my way here at the moment. First a bit about myself. I was born, a 3rd generation, in New York where I lived till I was almost a teenager. I have now lived in Israel for roughly 25 years and continued to remain an American with perhaps some Israeli flavoring. As a result of my years spent here I have gained a lot of knowledge of local issues and information that i have tried to share with my fellow Anglos over the years – especially new immigrants.
After years of foruming (if there isn’t such a word yet it’s bound to become one) on my local Anglo city list and at the urging of many people I’m attempting this blog on which I intend to write about issues of the moment in Anglo-Israel. Some of them will be relevant to all Israelis, some of it Anglo specific; some informative some opinionated. Hopefully someone will get some use out of it. I suppose time will tell.