The Swedes Make the So-called TV Tax Almost Cool!
How about this for a TV Tax: The Swedish have got it right when it comes to the so-called TV Tax. First off- they don’t call it the TV Tax which is confusing and wrong— they call it the Broadcasting Tax, and define it as “Everyone who owns, rents or borrows a television receiver has to pay for a TV License. It doesn’t matter which channels you watch, the mere fact that you have a TV receiver makes you liable to pay for a license.” Perhaps if the tax was about broadcasting, and the actual receiver as opposed to the TV box then we could all get along here. I mean after all, that’s really what the tax is about: taxing us for government funded channels. But if I don’t watch those channels, can’t even get those channels on my TV and only use it to watch DVDs then I shouldn’t have to pay a TV tax which is really just a Broadcasting Tax. And believe me I have explained this to no end to the Israeli TV Tax folks, but they are just not interested (they literally don’t read the letters I send, emails, or phone calls). And furthermore if they could give people the option of not having a Channel receiver then the mess would be even less of a mess and maybe not a mess at all!
OK, this is a rant I have given way to many times. This time I am just saying check out the really cool way the Swedes have managed to inform people about paying their tax. Rather than sending threatening letters, giving you fines, and just assuming you are guilty of owning a TV and watching their amazing channels without paying for them, the Swedes say, hey, we’re good at what we do so check out our amazing commercial and will prove how awesome we are, and then pay your tax.
Check out this commercial which may start off slow, but believe me it’s so worth it to watch. Why you ask? Because in this version of the film the Felafel Ladies make an appearance, and if you watch it to the end then you too can make an appearance. Just watch it to see what I’m talking about. And just imagine if the TV Tax bureaucrats in Israel could get out of their mob mentality and actually do something this creative, perhaps people wouldn’t be fighting the tax at all, and just enjoy good entertainment!
9 ways to order or download English books in Israel
I love walking into bookstores. I love the smell. I love rummaging and looking for great finds. I love the bargain bin. I even love reading book spines until my neck is permanently stuck to my shoulder. But if you live in Israel, there is no massive Barnes & Noble – like store or well-stocked library with English books besides Hebrew University. There are a few bookstores that carry English books but it’s very possible that you won’t find what you’re looking for. So, as much as I love dawdling around in a bookshop, I find myself drawn back to the web to find more choices. The problem is that some online stores like Amazon charge a ridiculous amount to ship books to Israel. Luckily, I’ve spotted a bunch of bookstores that ship relatively cheaply or even for free to Israel and a few websites where you can download books for free.
Note about shipping: If you order books over $50, you may be required to pay a VAT tax at the Israeli post office.
The Book Directory Free worldwide delivery
Better World Books – $3.97 shipping worldwide; Bargain Bin has 5 used books for $15
Books 4 Now– Israel-based online booksstore that sells used books in Israel. Order 4 books, get free delivery anywhere in Israel
AngloBooks – website to trade English books with others in Israel
Hook A Book – focused on Israel although prices are in dollars. Free international standard shipping. The site is a little hard on the eyes and there is no search function which makes it a bit difficult to browse but maybe they’re still developing the site as it’s pretty new. PayPal accepted.
Project Gutenberg Over 30,000 works of literature, cookbooks, reference works, periodicals, etc. in the form of e-books and audio mp3s that you can download for free.
42Scifi New and used English sci-fi books in Israel.
Bookmooch – bookswap based on points sysem. For each book you want, you have to send 2 books to others
HebrewBooks Over 40,000 classical Hebrew books for free download. Mostly Jewish books and texts. Books in Hebrew and English.- Abebooks.com English books. Check the Shipping Destination and Rates for each book to see the rate to ship books to Israel
- Bookme.co.il – Mostly Hebrew books. Seems like only new books
- Obook.co.il – Used and New Hebrew and English books
- Findabook.co.il – Used Hebrew and English books
- BookTrade.co.il – Used Hebrew and English books
- gilboabooks.co.il – Used Hebrew books and small selection of English books
- book4book.co.il – Used and New Hebrew and English books
- books4u.co.il – New Hebrew books and small selection of English books
- Steimatsky – New Hebrew and English books
- Tzomet Sfarim – New Hebrew and English books
Watch Season 2 of Srugim ONLINE (Israel only)
Thanks to @avihein on Twitter for being the first to alert everyone that you can now watch “Yifat gets married”, the first episode of the second season of Srugim online. You can read what we’ve written about Srugim here and here. If you need to catch up and do a marathon of the first season – you can watch it free online [Israel only].
For the uninitiated, Srugim is an Israeli drama series (in Hebrew) about young religious singles and couples in Jerusalem. Srugim’s portrayal of life in Jerusalem is fairly accurate and it really touches on a lot of issues that come up for the 20’s and 30’s crowd in the holy city. The show really hits home – I literally ran into them filming a few times just walking around my neighborhood. It’s also really fun to try and figure out where each shot is filmed and to spot someone I know casually walking by in the backdrop.
As Molly wrote up, we were lucky to see the first 2 episodes at the Jerusalem Cinemateque with “Amir” (Amos Tamam), Laizy Shapira (director) and Chava Divon (co-director) from Srugim. Now I’m spoiled and want to watch the rest of the season with the whole cast! If you’re reading this, Srugim cast, you’re invited over to watch on my laptop (I don’t watch TV) as I hunt down each episode online! I’ll even make some popcorn. Yalla!
Other peeps talking about Season 2:
- Swamped with Singles – Jerusalem Post
- Weaving Together a New Season of Srugim – Jerusalem.com
- Laizy Shapira, one of the brave ones – Habitza.com
The Big Felafel 