Senior Citizen vs. Internet
Macleans Magazine, April 25, 2011

Copper-scavenging granny Hayastan Shakarian made headlines by single-handedly cutting off the Internet across Armenia. The impoverished 75-year-old had hacked into a fibre-optic line connecting Armenia and Georgia, “with a view to stealing it.” says Georgian interior ministry spokesman Zura Gvenetadae. Shakarian, who faces up to three years in jail if convicted, caused a 12-hour Net blackout across her country, and outrages in Georgia and Azerbaijan; Gvenetadae, however, says prosecutors will not “push for a strict punishment.” Most confusing for Shakarian was the catastrophic consequence of her action: “I have no idea what the Internet is,” she told AFP.

This has to be the most amusing news story that I’ve read in awhile. With recent election coverage, there really isn’t anything going on, but if an ignorant to technology individual in Armenia, presumably looking for copper, shuts down the internet in a country for awhile: I think it’s hilariously awesome. Clearly the infrastructure needs to be a little bit better protected or better kept.

Conversely, the impoverished woman probably isn’t receiving any sort of assistance in her home, and as such has to go about mending for herself in her own ways. Brings up the age-old question of: Is it right to steal a loaf of bread to feed a hungry child? Evidently the answer is still “no.”