Many of us got lovely letters from Canada Post in the past few weeks and they were not exactly sealed with a kiss.

Hans Dybka of Dorval read his and discovered Canada Post plans to put its community mailbox on his front lawn.

He is, to put it mildly, a little angry.

“I want to keep them away. I said there was no way you are going to put that box on my property,” he told CTV earlier this week.

So Hans has poured some topsoil and put up a fence around the spot Canada Post has its designs on.

You’ve got to love it.

Most of us, I bet, are cheering for Hans.

Increased traffic is one thing, decreased property value is another.

Canada Post says it has the legal authority to put its community mailboxes where it wants.

It says the only way it can survive is to strip millions of Canadians of a basic service.

Sure there is less mail volume than in the past, but a good deal of mail still is delivered, particularly to Canadians who may not have mastered or even want to be part of the online world.

Canada Post cries poor.

But did you know that Canada Post made a profit last year of $198 million?

Its revenue from mail delivery actually increased by $238 million, largely due to higher prices for stamp.

It seems snail mail is far from dead.

And yes, many of us still prefer it to the insane number of emails we get every day.

It's nice to get a letter, and nicer still to have it delivered by a human being to your door.

The Tory government seems intent on having Canada as one of the few industrialized countries in the world without home delivery.

What if home delivery was not cancelled but just reduced, to two or three times a week maybe?

Cities and towns right across Canada, including Montreal, are lining up to fight the post office on this.

Why does no one in the Harper government speak up?

Why has the Conservative government washed their hands of this?

Maybe Seinfeld’s nemesis Newman was right when he said “when you control the mail you control information.”

But seriously, what really is going on here?

You have to admire when a little guy like Hans Dykba decides to stand up and fight for something that the Harper government and Canada Post say is signed, sealed, and delivered.

Student protests have fizzled

The good news this week is that it seems that our student so-called “strikes” are making as much impact as wet firecrackers.

I don't see the government shaking. Did you hear the sound of a fizzle?

The student groups are so disorganized they couldn't organize a one-car funeral.

I say so-called strike because in my mind, a strike is a withdrawal of services which leads to an economic impact on an employer.

What students are doing is not a strike by law nor by common sense.

What it is, is a few hundred thugs trying to disrupt democracy and destroy what they can.

Case in point, we found out this week that the last big demonstration at UQAM saw at least 50 computers destroyed or stolen.

Not to mention the vandalism, the broken windows, the painted walls, and general mess that needed cleaning up.

All of this may be part of some radical ideological struggle but one thing it is not is a strike.

It’s just stupidity.