Author: Badalian Vardan

JUDGE NOMINEE GETS UNFAIR RAP IN ARMENIAN GENOCIDE DISPUTE

Boston Globe, MA
Nov 26 2013

November 26, 2013

The Governor’s Council is poised to make a profound error by
rejecting a Massachusetts Superior Court nominee based, in part, on
his volunteer activities with the Anti-Defamation League, a national
organization committed to combating anti-Semitism and other forms of
discrimination. Whether through bad faith or a lack of familiarity with
the facts, a majority of the eight-member board appears to believe
that Joseph Berman, a well-regarded trial and appellate lawyer,
didn’t stand up for justice during the 2007-08 clash between the
league’s national leadership and the Armenian-American community.

Back then, national president Abraham Foxman tarnished the organization
when he failed to acknowledge unambiguously that Ottoman Turks
committed genocide against Armenians during and after World War I. The
ADL’s New England branch rebelled, to its credit. Former regional
director Andrew Tarsy was fired by the national office for refusing to
toe the official line. Two local board members, including Boston City
Councilor Michael Ross, resigned. Other local board members, including
Berman, took the fight directly to the national office. They succeeded
at winning recognition by the ADL of “the genocide of approximately
1.5 million Armenians’~R from 1915 to 1923.

Had Berman been an apologist for Foxman at the time, it would make
sense for Governor’s Council member Marilyn Pettito Devaney and
others to seek an explanation. Devaney is a resident of Watertown,
which boasts a large Armenian community. But Berman was never the
problem in the first place. On the contrary, he and other ADL members
from Boston reset the ADL’s moral compass.

Berman’s credentials are in order. He has argued cases before the
Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court and Appeals Court. He is an
expert on legal ethics and a respected mediator. Still, the Governor’s
Council appears adamant about rejecting him.

Jeffrey Robbins, the chair of the board of the New England
Anti-Defamation League, places the resistance to Berman somewhere on
the path “between mystifying and bizarre.’~R Similar terms have been
used before to describe the actions of the council responsible for
approving and rejecting gubernatorial judicial appointments. Sometimes
the body seems uninterested in the candidates. Other times it gets
bogged down in extraneous or distorted issues, as is happening now
with Berman’s nomination. Massachusetts shouldn’t be deprived of a
qualified judge for specious reasons.

IRAN-U.S. RAPPROCHEMENT – WHAT’S IN IT FOR ISRAEL / SAUDI ARABIA?

IPS – Inter Press Service
November 22, 2013 Friday

Mark N. Katz
WASHINGTON, Nov 22 2013

Israel, Saudi Arabia, and some of the other Arab Gulf states are
deeply sceptical of the Barack Obama administration’s efforts to
reach a deal with Iran limiting its nuclear program and to improve
U.S.-Iranian relations generally.

Washington’s traditional Middle Eastern allies warn that the Islamic
Republic cannot be trusted, and that Washington must not reach
a deal with Iran that either fails to adequately limit Iranian
nuclear ambitions, or which Tehran has no intention of abiding by
even if it does. Better ties offer the best opportunity to change how
Tehran calculates the costs and benefits of hostile behavior toward
Washington’s traditional allies in the Middle East.

Israeli and Saudi leaders in particular are adamant about this, and
are frustrated, angry, and mystified that the Obama administration
knows of their concerns about Iran, but is attempting to reach an
agreement with it anyway. What their behavior reveals is that it is
not just Iran whom Israeli and Saudi leaders don’t trust, but also
the Obama administration and Washington more generally.

While Israel and Saudi Arabia (among others) have had good reason
to fear the Islamic Republic of Iran in the past, the strong degree
of Iranian-U.S. hostility motivated Washington to contain Iran –
and its doing so benefited Israel and Saudi Arabia. What Israeli
and Saudi leaders now fear is that if Iranian-U.S. relations improve
significantly, Washington will no longer act so strongly to contain
Iran.

Indeed, the U.S. may press Israel and Saudi Arabia to soften their own
policies toward Iran so as not to hinder the process of Iranian-U.S.

rapprochement or Tehran’s progress in “rejoining the international
community.”

Something like this may well occur. And it might not just be the
Obama administration doing this. Because U.S. sanctions against
Iran have been so very tight and because U.S. public opinion has
viewed Iran so negatively for so very many years, there have been
few vested interests in the U.S. (apart from a portion of the small
Iranian-American community) willing to lobby for improved ties between
Washington and Tehran.

But as Iranian-U.S. relations improve, this will change. U.S.

corporations – especially petroleum firms – have long wanted to do
business with Iran, but sanctions and Iran’s negative image prevented
this. Improved Iranian-U.S. relations will result in U.S. business
being more willing to lobby for reducing sanctions (which, they will
argue, mainly benefit their competitors in Europe, Russia, and China).

Further, the prospect of improved Washington-Tehran ties may free the
Armenian-American lobby to argue that better Iranian-U.S. relations
would greatly help their homeland escape its over-dependence on Russia
vis-a-vis Turkey and Azerbaijan (neighbors with which Armenia has
long had difficult relations).

And despite its differences with Armenia, Azerbaijan – as well as
Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, and U.S. petroleum companies active in them –
would welcome the opportunity to export petroleum via Iran. Further,
the U.S. military and all those concerned with containing the Taliban
may see a friendly Iran as a better route for supplying Afghan
government forces than either unreliable Pakistan or the long and
expensive route through Russia and Central Asia.

And being a professor, I cannot help but note that cash-strapped U.S.

universities would very much like to see the return of large numbers
of full tuition-paying Iranian students.

If all these – and probably other unanticipated – constituencies with
a strong interest in friendly Iranian-U.S. relations in the U.S.

arise, then Israel, Saudi Arabia, and others who now fear Iran will
find it difficult to press Washington to resume a tougher policy
toward Iran in the future. Anticipation of this state of affairs is
undoubtedly an important factor motivating Israeli and Saudi leaders to
try to forestall an Iranian-U.S. rapprochement now before this occurs.

What they do not appreciate, though, is that improved Iranian-U.S.

relations will lead to a similar process unfolding in Iran. The
prospect of improved Iranian-U.S. relations will allow those who
would benefit from it to argue in favor of this process and against
policies that undermine it.

While it is difficult for Iranian actors to argue against the position
that Iran must remain ever vigilant against U.S. hostility when U.S.

policy toward Iran is indeed hostile, it will be easier for them to do
so if they can point to a real prospect of an improved relationship,
or better yet, an actually improved relationship that has provided
benefits they do not want to lose.

To put it bluntly: when the ayatollahs and even the leadership of the
Revolutionary Guards can travel to and own property in the U.S., send
their children to college there, and earn money as consultants to and
partners with U.S. corporations, it is doubtful that they will want
to risk losing all this for the dubious benefits of issuing nuclear
threats or supporting ungrateful and unprofitable allies such as Hamas,
Hezbollah, or Assad.

Fearful Israelis and Saudis (along with their U.S. supporters)
reading this will undoubtedly claim that the Iranians want to “have
their cake and eat it too” through benefiting from improved economic
ties with the West in order to more easily build up their military
strength and support their militant allies.

But while those who fear Iran may believe otherwise, it will simply be
impossible for Tehran to build and maintain good relations with the
U.S. while at the same time pursuing hostile policies toward Israel,
Saudi Arabia, and others. The rapprochement process – and all of Iran’s
benefits from it – would quickly end if it did despite the growing
U.S. and Iranian domestic constituencies seeking better relations.

The growth of these constituencies, though, could be powerful forces
acting to forestall counter-productive Iranian behaviour.

Hostile Iranian-U.S. relations have not served to put an end to
hostile Iranian policies toward Israel and Saudi Arabia in the past,
and are unlikely to do so in the future. An improved Iranian-U.S.

relationship will not lead to Iran becoming friends with Israel
and Saudi Arabia (which, of course, are not exactly friends with
each other).

Better ties between Washington and Tehran, though, offer the best
opportunity to change how Tehran calculates the costs and benefits
of hostile behaviour (if not hostile statements) toward Washington’s
traditional allies in the Middle East.

Mark N. Katz is a professor of government and politics at George
Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He is the author of many books and
articles, including Leaving without Losing: The War on Terror after
Iraq and Afghanistan (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2012).

COLLAPSING MONOPOLY OF ARMENIA

Several important things took place during the U.S. Armenian economic
cooperation taskforce. First, Contour Global, an American company
with a big experience in water energy, is ready to invest 180 million
dollars in Armenia. Most probably, the cascade over the Vorotan
is meant.

A few months earlier the minister of energy of Armenia had announced
that the American company is interested in the cascade of the Vorotan
River. In fact, the investment of the American company will be
significant for several reasons.

First, it will be a big American investment in the Armenian economy.

It is important to have this investment in the energy sector where
Russian capital is predominant. American capital will not help
diversify the sector but it will be a significant step in that
direction. Besides, the engagement of the American company may lead
to technological modernization in Armenia’s energy sector.

Another circumstance comes up, the water plant on the Armenian-Iranian
border. And the important question is whether the American company
will be interested later on. A few months ago the Armenian government
exempted the construction of the water power plant on the border
of Iran from taxes. It followed the election of reformer Hassan
Rowhani in Iran, which was hailed by the West. At the same time,
after his election Rowhani touched upon the Armenian-Iranian relations
several times, hinting Yerevan’s passive posture to joint projects and
programs. Then the parliament approved exemption of the construction
of the water power plant from taxes pending for discussion for a
long time.

It is very important what Russia thinks.

For example, Russia expected to get the last energy generation units
of Armenia, the Cascade of the Vorotan River. Rumors appeared in the
press every now and then for years. It is interesting to know why
Russia decided to hand over the Cascade of the Vorotan. Perhaps Moscow
thinks that it has got enough levers of influence on Armenia, and it
can skip one since it is short of money for the time being. It is not
ruled out that after the decision on joining the Customs Union Moscow
granted Armenia quotas of economic cooperation with the United States.

>From this point of view the issue of prospects of investments
in aviation raised at the meeting of the U.S.-Armenian taskforce
is interesting. In the TV report on the meeting the American side
mentioned the possibility of operation of a private American airline
in Armenia.

In fact, the United States displays interest in aviation, welcoming
the open sky policy of Armenia. In Armenia aviation used to be one
of the pillars of monopoly, and this initiative would symbolize the
end of monopoly and establishment of competitiveness in Armenia,
producing both economic and psychological effects.

Apparently, after a failure of political u-turn in the relations with
Armenia Washington opts for economic activities. The United States
seemed to combine options until 2008, trying to understand where
a breakthrough would be more probable but the breakthrough did not
take place.

Now there is a transformation to the economic option but boring
has replaced breakthrough. The political aspect is ceded to Russia,
instead economic quotas are gained where politics is not tangible,
is a strategic component and therefore will not cause a prompt and
tough counteraction by Russia.

Hakob Badalyan 22:23 25/11/2013 Story from Lragir.am News:

SAPPERS OF RUSSIAN BASE IN ARMENIA FINISH CLEARING OF TRAINING GROUNDS

Monday,
November
25

Field engineers of the South Military Region’s Russian military base
in Armenia have finished clearing of explosive items in Kamkhud and
Alagyaz training grounds, RFE/RL Armenian service said.

According to the press service of the South Military Region, over 400
hectares of land in training and shooting grounds was cleared in the
past month. About 100 sappers were involved in the work. More than
3,000 explosive items were disarmed.

TODAY, 20:33

Aysor.am

RUSSIAN NAVY GETS NEW CARRIER BASED FIGHTER JETS

November 25, 2013 – 17:06 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net – The Russian navy has taken delivery of its first
four series-produced MiG-29K/KUB carrier based fighter jets, the
Defense Ministry said Monday, Nov 25, according to RIA Novosti.

“The MiG aircraft-manufacturing corporation has handed over two
MiG-29K single-seat and two MiG-29KUB twin-seat carrier-based fighter
aircraft,” a spokesman said.

The Russian Defense Ministry signed a contract with MiG in February
2012 for delivery of 20 MiG-29K and four MiG-29KUB fighters by 2015.

The aircraft will be deployed on Russia’s sole serving carrier,
the Admiral Kuznetsov, based in Murmansk with the Northern Fleet.

The Admiral Kuznetsov currently operates Sukhoi Su-33 naval fighter
aircraft.

The MiG-29K is a naval variant of the MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jet,
and has folding wings, an arrester tail-hook, strengthened airframe
and multirole capability thanks to its Zhuk-ME slotted array radar,
MiG says.

Unlike the Su-33, which is capable of air defense missions only,
the MiG-29K can be armed with a wide variety of air-to-surface as
well as air-to-air weaponry and laser-designation systems.

The aircraft is also capable of “buddy” refueling other MiG-29Ks
using the PAZ-1MK refueling pod.

So far, the aircraft has only entered service with India, for use on
the refitted Russian-built carrier INS Vikramaditya, which was handed
over to the Indian Navy on Nov 15.

HOLY TRINITY CHURCH WAS SANCTIFIED IN ALATUMAN VILLAGE

15:13 ~U 25.11.13

On November 23, the Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic
Church in Georgia, His Grace Bishop Vazgen Mirzakhanyan, through
the offices of the Vicar-General of Javakhk Supreme Archimandrite
Babken Salbiyan, spiritual shepherd of Arakova and nearby villages
Priest Tadeos Ter-Lazarian, Priest Tatev Marukyan and Priest Tigran
Mkhitaryan, sanctified Holy Trinity Church in Alatuman village of
Akhalkalaki region, as well as Khachkar (cross-stone) erected in the
church yard. After the consecration ceremony the Divine and Immortal
Liturgy was served. Priest Tadeos Ter-Lazarian conducted the divine
service.

The Primate of the Diocese of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia
transmitted to Javakheti residents of Alatuman village blessing and
good wishes from His Holiness Karekin II, Catholicos of All Armenians.

“Nowadays there are people who really are in search of God, and
on their way they come and worship the House of God. People, who
live in this Armenian-inhabited chimney corner, work hard to earn
a living and are close to the Church.” The Primate of the Diocese
of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Georgia passed regards of the
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Armenia to Georgia
Hovhannes Manoukian to the audience.

Holy Trinity Church was built in 1830s. During the earthquake of
December 19, 1899 the church building had suffered great damage. The
construction of Holy Trinity Church and improvement of its vicinity
was implemented on donations of residing in Russia businessman Alik
Makaryan. There is Khachkar erected in memory of benefactor’s father
in the church yard. The Vicar-General of Javakhk highly appreciated
the work conducted by the benefactor. “Residents of Alatuman village
for nearly a century have been waiting for this blessed day. They
dreamt of seeing Holy Trinity Church well-maintained, wanted to
listen to the bells ringing, to light a candle and pray to God. And
thanks to benefactor Alik Makaryan their dream has come true”, –
Archimandrite Babken Salbiyan mentioned in his speech and presented
to the benefactor written blessings as well as the Bible.

Georgian MP Samvel Petrosyan, Deputy Governor of Samtskhe-Javakheti
Region Harutyun Hovhannisyan, Chairman of Akhalkalaki Sakrebulo Hamlet
Movsisyan, Gamgebeli of Akhalkalaki Municipality Eduard Aghasaryan,
guests and pilgrims from different corners of Armenia, Russia and
Georgia attended the consecration ceremony. After the end of the
consecration ceremony of Holy Trinity Church the traditional sacrifice
“matagh” was given to the people.

A concert, featuring Mavr Lazarian and his friends, “Karin” Song
and Dance Ensemble headed by Gagik Ginosyan, students of Children and
Youth Folk Ensemble from Baralet village, was held in connection with
the holiday.

Alatuman village is located just 20 km from Akhalkalaki. The village
divides the Akhalkalaki/Tabatskuri road into two parts.

The Armenian population moved here starting from the 18th century
from the homonymous province of Karin, reported the press service of
the Vicariate of the Armenian Apostolic Church in Samtskhe-Javakheti

Armenian News – Tert.am

ASHOT DANIELIAN (82 KG), CHAMPION DU MONDE DE SAMBO

SPORTS-SAMBO

L’Armenie a un champion du monde de sambo. Lors des championnats du
monde qui se sont deroules a Saint Petersbourg (Russie), l’Armenien
Ashot Danielian (82 kg) a remporte hier la medaille d’or de sa
categorie. Natif de Stepanakert (Haut Karabagh), ce sportif surpuissant
a surclasse tous ses adversaires pour remporter le titre mondial. En
finale, il s’est impose sur le Russe Riabov.

Un peu plus tôt d’autres representants de l’Armenie avaient remporte
des medailles de bronze. Il s’agit de Yertchanik Garabedian (48 kg),
Sose Balasanian (52 kg), Dikran Kirakosian (52 kg), Mavrik Nasibian
(74 kg). Ainsi l’Armenie reviendra de ces championnats du monde
de sambo avec 1 medaille d’or et 4 de bronze. A l’occasion du 75e
anniversaire de la fondation de la Federation internationale de sambo,
Levon Haïrabedian, le president de la Federation armenienne de sambo
recut une medaille commemorative de cet anniversaire.

Rappelons que le sambo, art martial melant la lutte et le judo, est
très repandu en Russie et dans les pays de l’Est. Malheureusement le
sambo n’est pas une discipline olympique.

Krikor Amirzayan

lundi 25 novembre 2013, Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

LE CHANTEUR PLACIDO DOMINGO JR SOUS ” LISTE NOIRE ”

Azerbaïdjan

L’Azerbaïdjan agite une fois encore sa ” liste noire ” a l’occasion
de la visite de Placido Domingo Jr au Karabagh

L’Azerbaïdjan a de nouveau menace de sanctions un artiste international
qui a rendu visite au Karabagh ” sans l’autorisation de Bakou “.

Dans une declaration faite lundi, le chef du service de presse du
Ministère des Affaires etrangères d’Azerbaïdjan Elman Abdulayevit a
dit qu’ils etaient en ce moment en train d’ ” examiner ” la visite
que Placido Domingo Jr a rendue au Karabagh, reiterant le point
de vue de l’Azerbaïdjan selon lequel toute visite du Karabagh sans
l’autorisation de Bakou sera consideree comme illegale.

Le fils du celèbre tenor Placido Domingo a donne un concert au Karabagh
la semaine passee et a ete recu par le President de la Republique
Bako Sahakian le 17 novembre.

Selon le bureau de presse du president du HK, Sahakian a exprime sa
gratitude au chanteur pour ce concert, notant qu’il avait ” grandement
contribue au developpement de la culture, a l’approfondissement du
dialogue interculturel et ete porteur d’un message de paix “.

Les questions relatives a la realisation de certains programmes
culturels au HK auraient ete discutees au cours de cette reunion,
a laquelle assistaient egalement la Ministre des Affaires culturelles
et de l’Enfance Narine Aghabalyan, et d’autres officiels.

Placido Domingo Jr, qui est un chanteur mexicain, auteur compositeur
et producteur de disques, est apparu comme peu preoccupe par la
perspective de ” souffrir ” du sort subi par des centaines d’artistes,
universitaires et hommes et femmes politiques declares personae non
grata et prives de visas d’entree en Azerbaïdjan, comme ils l’ont
ete après leur visite a la seconde Republique armenienne.

En août, Bakou revelait une liste de plus de 330 personnes, souvent
appelee liste Montserrat Caballe (du nom de la celèbre cantatrice
d’opera espagnole qui visita le Karabagh l’ete dernier et qui fut
inscrite sur la ‘liste noire’ de ce fait), qui comporte un certain
nombre de personnes en vue du monde culturel et politique, des
scientifiques, des entrepreneurs, comme les membres du parlement
Australien, l’elue de l’Assemblee Legislative de Nouvelles Galles
du Sud Gladys Berekjikian, le membre de la Douma d’etat russe Oleg
Pokholkov, la correspondante du magazine Ukrainian Profile Varvara
Zhlutenko, le correspondant du Washington Post a Moscou Will Englund,
le magnat des affaires armeno-argentin Eduardo Eurnekian, le chef
d’Orchestre autrichien Ernest Hoetzl et beaucoup d’autres.

S’agissant de la crainte de se trouver sur la ” liste noire ” de
Bakou, Placido Domingo Jr a repondu ” ne pas savoir grand chose de
la politique. Est-il possible qu’ils me mettent en prison ? Je m’en
soucie peu, dans la mesure où ils me donneraient un coussin et des
draps, des cigarettes et du cafe. La seule chose que je souhaiterais,
c’est qu’on ne m’execute pas le lendemain “.

Le chanteur mexicain a donne egalement son premier concert a Erevan le
21 novembre, accompagne par l’Orchestre de Jeunes de l’Etat d’Armenie.

Placido Domingo Jr se produira au Aram Khatchaturian Hall, ainsi
qu’au Mezzo Club.

Armenian Life Magazine n°1390 – Traduction Gilbert Beguian

lundi 25 novembre 2013, Jean Eckian ©armenews.com

ARMENIE-RUSSIE
Le 2 décembre Vladimir Poutine devrait se poser en hélicoptère à Gumri
(Arménie) selon « Haygagan Jamanag »

Selon le journal arménien « Haygagan Jamanag » la visite que doit
effectuer en Arménie le président russe Vladimir Poutine, sera surtout
axé sur le dossier de la base militaire russe 102 stationnée à Gumri
(Arménie).« Selon nos informations l’hélicoptère de Poutine se posera
sur l’aéroport de Gumri. Cet élément démontre cela représente un volet
de la politique étrangère de la Russie, et qu’il représente un message
fort » écrit « Haygagan Jamanag » et de poursuivre « la base russe de
Gumri est la seule de tout le Sud Caucase et actuellement cette base
de développe de façon très importante et si cela continue, toute la
ville de Gumri deviendra une zone russe ». Le journal écrit que
Poutine donne une importance toute particulière au traité militaire
arméno-russe et cette présence soutenue à Gumri pour que l’Arménie est
une des priorités de la stratégie de la présence militaire russe dans
la région.

Krikor Amirzayan

dimanche 24 novembre 2013,
Krikor Amirzayan ©armenews.com

Founder of Reddit and the Internet’s Own Cheerleader
By MICHAEL SCHULMAN

The New York Times
November 22, 2013

Alexis Ohanian bounded through the offices of Maker’s Row, a start-up
in Brooklyn that pairs small businesses with manufacturers. At
6-foot-5, dressed in a gingham shirt and jeans, Mr. Ohanian was, in
more ways than one, the big man on campus.

Trailed by a four-man camera crew from the Verge, an online tech
channel, Mr. Ohanian hovered over a cubicle and interrogated an
employee, Rafael Gonzaque.

`Do you have friends who are not in the start-up game who love their
jobs as much as you do?’ he asked.

`No,’ Mr. Gonzaque said, before adding, `Maybe fashion.’

It was a perfect response for Mr. Ohanian, the smiling 30-year-old
evangelist of the New York tech scene, and a relentless cheerleader of
the utopian promise of the Internet.

Having been a co-founder of Reddit, the behemoth social news site, at
22 with his roommate from the University of Virginia, he cashed out 16
months later, when the company was sold to Condé Nast for an
undisclosed sum. He went on to join Hipmunk, a travel site, and was a
co-founder of Breadpig, which raises funds for novelty items (he calls
it `Newman’s Own for nerds’).

When he’s not concocting start-ups, he spends his days as an angel
investor to feel-good sites like Upworthy, serves as an adviser to
young techies and is an unflappable champion of the Internet’s ability
to make the world more awesome.

That, essentially, is the subject of his new book, `Without Their
Permission,’ for which he is currently on a tour of 77 colleges to
spread his gospel of enlightened entrepreneurship.

It won’t be his first foray on the public stage. During the antipiracy
fight of 2012, when Congress considered a pair of bills that critics
said would censor speech and stifle innovation, Mr. Ohanian gave a
barn-burning (if cheery) speech at a protest in Manhattan, bearing
sympathy cards `to hand deliver to our senators here in New York,
mourning the death of the Internet.’

Mr. Ohanian’s telegenic advocacy set off chatter that he might run for
office, with Forbes magazine dubbing him `The Mayor of the Internet.’
(Bro in Chief is more apt.) It’s easy to see how he could pivot into
campaigning.

`He’s a classic politician,’ said Steve Huffman, his partner in
founding Reddit.

Like a good politician, Mr. Ohanian is happy to add to the
speculation. `If I were to run, I’d run for representative, and I’d do
it explicitly with the requirement that it’s only one term,’ he said.

But for now, he is more interested in spreading good vibes in the tech
world, particularly its East Coast wing. On a recent Wednesday, he
arrived at his brunch spot near his Brooklyn Heights apartment,
accompanied by his girlfriend of two years, Sabriya Stukes, a
Ph.D. student in microbiology. They met in college, Ms. Stukes said,
when she wandered into his dorm while he was playing video games.

`I asked him where my friend was,’ Ms. Stukes said. `He said, `I don’t
know,’ and then went back to playing video games.’

Mr. Ohanian, wearing a Nooka watch and (another) gingham shirt, said
he moved to Brooklyn Heights because his father, who runs a small
travel agency in Maryland, once dreamed of moving there. Repeating an
oft-told tale, Mr. Ohanian said that the first thing he did after
selling Reddit was to upgrade his father’s season tickets to Redskins
games.

`The thing that I don’t usually tell,’ he went on, `is that after that
I called my mom and told her, `What do you want?’ Because this was a
person who never wanted anything.’ His voice caught in his
throat. `And she said she wanted nothing.’

At the time, his mother was battling terminal brain cancer, having
received a diagnosis in 2005, shortly after Reddit started. It had
already been a tough year. A few months earlier, Mr. Ohanian’s
girlfriend at the time attempted suicide by leaping out of a window in
Germany. (She was in a coma for a while but recovered.) In September,
his family dog was put down, and that same day his mother had a
seizure, which led to the diagnosis.

`It all happened in a span of a few months,’ Mr. Ohanian said, still
sounding shellshocked.

His mother’s failing health was part of the reason he accepted Condé
Nast’s offer=3B she died less than two years after the sale. Mr.
Ohanian left Reddit, though he remains on its board, and spent months
volunteering for a microfinance group in Armenia, where his father’s
family is from.

Mr. Ohanian had another brush with tragedy this year when Aaron
Swartz, a 26-year-old programmer who had briefly worked with him and
Mr. Huffman at Reddit, hanged himself in Brooklyn. The partnership
had been uneasy.

`It was very clear after a month or so of him working with us that he
wasn’t terribly interested in working on Reddit,’ Mr. Ohanian said.

Mr. Swartz’s mood swings alarmed his collaborators. In 2007,
Mr. Swartz wrote a blog post imagining his own death, titled `A Moment
Before Dying.’ Upon reading it, Mr. Ohanian called the police, who
broke into Mr. Swartz’s apartment. Mr. Swartz laughed the whole thing
off.

`I was very sensitive to the warning signs,’ Mr. Ohanian recalled,
alluding to the ex-girlfriend who had attempted suicide. Soon after,
Mr. Swartz was forced out of Reddit, and he fell out of touch with his
former colleagues. Mr. Ohanian heard about his death from a mutual
friend. `It just makes me sad,’ he said. `There’s no satisfactory
explanation for it.’

What the two had in common was their zeal for the transformative
potential of the Internet, though Mr. Ohanian’s version is decidedly
sunnier. In his book, he extols the idea that `all links are created
equal’ – that any college student with Wi-Fi can, in tech parlance,
`disrupt’ an entrenched industry. The uprising against the antipiracy
bills, he explained breathlessly, shows how online networking can
accelerate social movements.

It was Reddit users, after all, who started the idea of an Internet
blackout, which spread to Wikipedia and other sites on the day of the
protests.

`It’s not the technology that does it,’ he said. `People are always
the ones who are making it work. But now you’re giving them a
platform.’

But what about the darker side of information sharing? In the
aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing this year, Reddit users
falsely accused a missing Brown University student, raising questions
about the value of crowd sourcing. Mr. Ohanian insisted that people,
not platforms, are to blame.

`When I get a prank call, I don’t blame AT&T,’ he said. `I blame the
person who prank called me.’

The incident did not dim his belief in technology. `As long as people
are using the Internet, people are going to do stupid stuff and people
are going to do bad stuff,’ he said. `And by the time that robots are
sentient, they’re going to enslave us anyway, so it won’t matter.’

Spoken like an optimist.