?

My co-workers and I often begin work emails with just the person's name, such as:

"John:"

A person in another company wrote me, copying a bunch of people, and said that it's rude for me to start an email with just a person's name.  He says that it's polite to start with:

"Hi John:"

I find "Hi John" informal, but people do that, and so it's fine.

However, is it rude to start an email with just a person's name?  

In the Bible, whenever Jesus, the disciples or other Christians taught about Christianity, crowds would often riot or have an uproar.

Why did people constantly riot; why couldn’t they just respond calmly?

In the Bible, Paul was beaten and mistreated pretty often.  Then when he’d tell his captors that he was a Roman citizen, his captors would grow concerned that they had mistreated a Roman citizen.  But Paul never had to show any documentation of his citizenship.  Why; wouldn’t people try to lie and claim Roman citizenship if they didn’t have to prove it?

She’s a Democrat and Prince Harry seems to agree with her views, at least somewhat.

The UK Royal Family is supposed to be politically neutral.  That’s perhaps one reason why people love them so much: nobody knows what the Queen’s views are.

How would the Royal Family respond if some of its members became known as active Democrats?

I am Presbyterian, and the view that Presbyterians generally have is that you’re saved by God’s grace and by faith alone.  Not works.

But John 5:29 is Jesus’s words, saying that if you do good, you’re sent to eternal life and if you don’t evil, you’re damned.

Bible commentaries that I’ve read say that doing good equals having faith, and doing evil means. It having faith.  But Jesus himself says doing good has a different outcome than doing evil: the plain words indicate that you must do good.

So, my Christian friends, does John 5:29 mean that your actions count?

British English uses words like "colour" and "cheque"; US English uses "color" and "check".  I'm American, but we know what "colour" and "cheque" and other British spellings of words are; it's the same language.  It's pointless to have different spellings of the same word.

Why not make British English and US English the same?  I'm American and we can add a "u" to "color" and replace "ck" with que" in "check".  We can even spell "curb" to be "kerb" if you want. Or Britons can change their spellings.

Why not do that, and eliminate unnecessary differences?

I was going to buy a book and send it to a relative’s Kindle, but when I logged on to my Amazon account, I could send it only to me.  I then logged on to the relative’s account but could not get through (a code went to her cell phone, which I obviously didn’t have).

So is there a way to buy a book on Amazon for someone else’s Kindle?

Thanks.

I like Mitt Romney and have voted for him repeatedly. He’s thoughtful and isn’t an ideologue.

I dislike anyone who’s a jerk or who is highly partisan. Trump, Obama and Chuck Schumer, that means you.

Which politicians do you like and why?

Think of how massively powerful a unified British Empire and United States would have been.  

The Civil War would have ended sooner (and slavery would have been ended in the 1820s as proclaimed by the UK), World War I would have been over much sooner, and if World War II had happened (less likely if WWI had been shorter), it would have been a quicker Allied victory.

Yes, taxation without representation was unacceptable.  But Canada worked things out with the UK and evolved towards independence, not requiring war and a revolution. The US could have, too.

Plenty of commuter trains are pushed by locomotives at the rear of the train.  At the front of the train, there is either a small cabin where someone can sit to drive the train or another locomotive.  

I see the employee at the front of the train, but is there also a railroad employee in the locomotive at the rear of the train?  Or if a locomotive is pushing the train, is the rear locomotive operated by remote control without a person in it?

Thanks.

The Swedish pop duo Galantis has a few songs that seem overtly Christian, such as "Faith", and they have works entitled "Church" and "Holy Water".  However, they also have a few songs with four letter words in the title.

Is Galantis a Christian group?  (Even if they are mainstream, are the singers Christians)?

I live in a large condominium building, and most residents and building employees are on a first-name basis.  One employee calls me by my last name (“Good morning, Mr. Smith!).

It’s a classy thing for him to do, but I see him almost every day and we ought to be friends by now.  I like him.

Is it rude of me to let him know that he can call me “John”?  Or should I just call him by his last name, too (it’s Greek and I may screw up the pronunciation unless I ask someone else who works there how to pronounce it).

It’s very polite of him to use my last name and I don’t want to indicate disapproval of his politeness, and maybe he remembers my last name more easily than my first name.

Thanks.

Calling a conversation a “chat” makes it sound informal and friendly.

Yet at work, people say “chat” when the discussion could be a painful and contentious long conference call that requires advance preparation.  Hardly informal or friendly.

Anyone else can’t stand calling a work discussion a “chat”?

I am a middle-aged adult and live 600 miles away from my parents.  I haven’t seen them since last spring due to COVID-19 travel restrictions.  I am busy and mad at them so I don’t want to see them anyway.

My mother keeps sending me gifts that I don’t want: chocolate squares with fruit filling (which I just take to the office and leave for my coworkers to take), bric-a-brac that I don’t want (such as mugs with cute sayings on them), and homemade food that is stale by the time it arrives.

I assume that I need to just thank her each time I get one of these unwanted gifts and just throw them away?  There’s no way to politely get the gifts to stop?

Thanks.

When Germany bombed Polish, Dutch and British cities in 1939 to 1941, did any German or Italian civilians publicly express disagreement with aerial bombardment tactics?  

Surely come civilians, out of decency, didn’t want to see other civilians killed and beautiful cities leveled.  

And surely some civilians didn’t want Allies countries retaliating with large-scale bombardment of Germany and Italy.  Right?

They're both not the sharpest tools in the shed, and they promote nonsense.

How could anyone vote for them?  Were the Democrats who they were running against just, well, Democrats (hating white people, demanding free stuff, wanting to defund the police, etc.)--was that why they won?

Joe Biden’s policies so far seem pretty left-wing, and I did not vote for him; I voted Libertarian.  But I’m relieved to have a president and First Lady who, for a change, seem like decent and nice enough people.

Anyone else who is a center-right voter and who is also relieved that Trump is gone and replaced by a nicer person as president?

I've never been sued, but I am curious about how you felt when you read the allegations against you in the complaint, if you've been sued.  Thanks.

Many owners in my homeowners' association have accused the property manager of stealing.  I looked at some online reviews of the property manager, and its own employees have posted reviews stating that the property management firm is "shady" and "nickles and dimes its customers".  I'd like to share that review with other owners.

Is it defamatory to share someone else's online review of a business, when the review appears accurate?

Thanks.