By SAW YAN NAING
February 22, 2008 - Veteran Burmese politicians, opposition activists and ethnic ceasefire leaders have urged Burma’s military regime to hold a free and fair national referendum and general election.
An influential group of veteran politicians, pro-democracy activists and leaders of the Kachin Independence Organization all released statements on Thursday, each calling for a fair referendum and general election.
In early February, the Burmese government announced that a national referendum on the constitution will be held in May and a multi-party general election in 2010.
The veteran politicians—including Thakin Chan Htun and Thakin Thein Pe—urged the regime to widely distribute the draft constitution and to allow sufficient time for voters to study the constitution.
Thakin Chan Htun, a leader of the group, told The Irrawaddy on Friday, “The regime should release political prisoners and allow them to freely involve themselves in the referendum. They [the authorities] should also allow UN representatives, political analysts and journalists to observe the voting process.”
The politicians criticized the regime for ignoring the calls of the international community, the United Nations, prominent world leaders, Burmese opposition groups and citizens to promote real national reconciliation.
Economic and social problems can not be solved through a constitution and election if the regime does not allow sufficient time for the people to study the draft constitution, said the politicians.
Meanwhile, the central committee of the Kachin Independence Organization—a main ethnic ceasefire group based on the China-Burma border—released a statement on Thursday saying the referendum and election have a chance to promote political reform in Burma, but only if the referendum and election are free and fair.
The KIO took part in the junta-sponsored National Convention, which led to the referendum on the draft constitution.
The ceasefire group called for the regime to appoint a group to monitor the voting process to ensure fairness.
An ethnic Mon ceasefire group, the New Mon State Party based on the Thai-Burma border, announced that it will not support the draft constitution written by the Burmese government because it does not guarantee the rights of ethnic groups or create a federal union style government.
Nai ong Ma-Nge, a spokesperson for the party, said, “It is not a good sign because they [the regime] don’t negotiate with opposition groups and ethnic leaders. We don’t follow their strategy. What we believe is that tripartite talks are the best way to solve the political problems in Burma.”
The NMSP signed a ceasefire agreement with the regime in 1995. Representatives of the party also attended the National Convention as observers along with other ethnic ceasefire groups in 2004.
Meanwhile, many Rangoon-based activists called for fairness in the referendum and election.
An underground activist group, known as Generation Wave, released a statement on Thursday calling for all citizens to have the right of freedom of expression and the right to lobby for their political views.
The Generation Wave, believed to be made up of students, was founded in 2007 after the military crackdown on the pro-democracy movement.
At a regional meeting in Singapore, Burma’s Foreign Minister, Nyan Win, said Aung San Suu Kyi will not be allowed to take part in the 2010 election because of her marriage to a foreigner, Briton Michael Aris.
In an Associated Press story, Gordon Johndroe, a spokesman for the US National Security Council, said, "That [banning Suu Kyi] is hardly the definition of free and fair elections. The junta needs to start from scratch with a real constitution that actually passes the laugh test."
Saturday, 23 February 2008
USDA Starts Recruitment Drive Ahead of Referendum
By SAW YAN NAING
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 21 ,2008 - Members of a mass-based organization backed by Burma’s ruling junta have begun a recruitment campaign to drum up support for an upcoming national referendum, according to Rangoon residents.
A resident of Hlaing Thayar Township in the former Burmese capital told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) have been conducting a low-key membership drive in the area since February 2.
“They [members of the USDA] have been calling residents at night, telling them good things about the regime and asking them to join their organization,” he said. “They also said that they will build new roads and clinics for the residents if they register as members.”
But many have responded coolly to the organization’s efforts to lobby on behalf of the regime, which ordered a brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in September 2007.
Sources within the USDA revealed last week that the association had been tasked with organizing the referendum—set to take place in May—on a constitution drafted by delegates handpicked by the ruling military regime.
USDA members at the township and district levels will form local commissions to oversee voting in the referendum, said sources close to the organization. They would also be involved in preparations for general elections slated for 2010, according to the sources.
One source who requested anonymity said that the USDA was recruiting respected local people to serve on the referendum and election commissions. The USDA is also looking for wealthy and well-educated candidates to run in the elections, the source added.
The USDA, which was formed in 1993 to rally mass support for the regime, has 24 million members. It has also been instrumental in efforts to intimidate opposition activists and civilians.
USDA members played a key role in the bloody crackdown on the 2007 uprising and in a deadly attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade in 2003, in which about 100 people were killed.
The Irrawaddy News
www.irrawaddy.org
February 21 ,2008 - Members of a mass-based organization backed by Burma’s ruling junta have begun a recruitment campaign to drum up support for an upcoming national referendum, according to Rangoon residents.
A resident of Hlaing Thayar Township in the former Burmese capital told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that members of the Union Solidarity and Development Association (USDA) have been conducting a low-key membership drive in the area since February 2.
“They [members of the USDA] have been calling residents at night, telling them good things about the regime and asking them to join their organization,” he said. “They also said that they will build new roads and clinics for the residents if they register as members.”
But many have responded coolly to the organization’s efforts to lobby on behalf of the regime, which ordered a brutal crackdown on peaceful demonstrators in September 2007.
Sources within the USDA revealed last week that the association had been tasked with organizing the referendum—set to take place in May—on a constitution drafted by delegates handpicked by the ruling military regime.
USDA members at the township and district levels will form local commissions to oversee voting in the referendum, said sources close to the organization. They would also be involved in preparations for general elections slated for 2010, according to the sources.
One source who requested anonymity said that the USDA was recruiting respected local people to serve on the referendum and election commissions. The USDA is also looking for wealthy and well-educated candidates to run in the elections, the source added.
The USDA, which was formed in 1993 to rally mass support for the regime, has 24 million members. It has also been instrumental in efforts to intimidate opposition activists and civilians.
USDA members played a key role in the bloody crackdown on the 2007 uprising and in a deadly attack on Aung San Suu Kyi’s motorcade in 2003, in which about 100 people were killed.
Dream of leaving Burma
By Pete Browne
February 22nd 2008 - Burma has been under military rule for over four decades. Its recent draft constitution, which bans opposition activists from entering the 2010 elections, has come under attack recently as international pressure to move toward democracy increases. Win Swe grew up in Mandalay under the junta's regime. He talks about his day-to-day life and studies, and his struggle to express himself in a closed society
The school I go to is closed today as the classrooms are foot-high in water. It often happens during the monsoon season. What I usually do when the rains come is head for the centre of Mandalay; if I can’t study in class the streets offer a good alternative. I am a firm believer in learning.
There are so many things happening in Burma that cry out for dialogue and debate. But people are too repressed to enter into discussion; they fear violent consequences. Our problems are on a national scale, but our fear forces us to view them on an individual scale. Talking itself can be dangerous. Having learned from previous mistakes, I am now careful whom I talk to and what about.
I seek out foreigners to have conversations with. I can see that it’s a backwards strategy – making small talk with friends and family and opening up to strangers – but it’s safer. Life is hard for so many people, and informing on other people’s anti-government sentiments can gain privileges, which may translate into enough food to feed your family for a week. In many ways I can understand.
If I am seen speaking to a foreigner I will be questioned by the police. The foreigner will be left alone, as non-Burmese people aren't likely to be arrested and interrogated. This is largely an internal affair. I try to be careful and don’t talk to anyone who isn’t interested. As long as no one is in earshot I can always claim that I was asked for directions.
Although many foreigners have boycotted Burma, there are always a few who, for whatever reason, choose to see for themselves. If they are European they offer an opportunity for me to practise my English, which is an added incentive to head for the streets.
English is important for my studies. I'm a law student. Much of our legal system has been influenced by our colonial predecessors; there is still English-language legislation in the statute book, where much of the detail of Burmese history can be found.
I chose to study law in an attempt to counter the injustices around me, but now I realise that this is naive. Law is an easy subject in Burma. Where justice is non-existent, law ceases to be anything but a reinforcement of the state. There are a lot of lawyers here and competition is tight; income is far from guaranteed, even in this vocation.
I’m 22 years old. I’m still young but I feel I've missed out. I spent three years in prison – once for two years, and then for a term of one year. My crime was talking. There are many people here like me, and we are far from being a minority. In Burma, even whispering the word democracy can land you in serious trouble.
I have always been in Mandalay. My family is here; I have grown up, studied and been imprisoned here. My greatest dream is to leave. I've been trying to escape from this country for years, but family ties are strong and it is difficult to make that decisive step, to give up on everything that is happening around me.
A passport costs more than three times the average income of relatively wealthy Burmese person. And then there are the additional costs – bribes for the multitude of officials along the way. Even if I could somehow arrange the finances it would only be the first step. From the initial application to actual departure could take years, and only then could I think about applying for a visa. It’s an obvious but easy tactic by the junta to stop people from leaving the country and stop news of their regime from reaching the outside world. A lot of Burmese people risk crossing the border illegally.
I have a friend overseas who has offered to help me – someone I met a few years ago on an excursion into Mandalay when school was closed. I have his postal address, but every letter I have sent him was read and destroyed by officials. That was why I spent my second term in prison. Two years for writing, one year for talking.
I learned my lesson. Now, every time I write a letter I have to find a tourist willing to smuggle it out of the country – usually to Thailand, where it can be posted and hopefully reach its destination untouched. I don’t like to be beholden to others, or to impose, but I have a simple choice: to try or not.
Win Swe, whose name has been changed, was talking to Pete Browne.
Source: Guardian
February 22nd 2008 - Burma has been under military rule for over four decades. Its recent draft constitution, which bans opposition activists from entering the 2010 elections, has come under attack recently as international pressure to move toward democracy increases. Win Swe grew up in Mandalay under the junta's regime. He talks about his day-to-day life and studies, and his struggle to express himself in a closed society
The school I go to is closed today as the classrooms are foot-high in water. It often happens during the monsoon season. What I usually do when the rains come is head for the centre of Mandalay; if I can’t study in class the streets offer a good alternative. I am a firm believer in learning.
There are so many things happening in Burma that cry out for dialogue and debate. But people are too repressed to enter into discussion; they fear violent consequences. Our problems are on a national scale, but our fear forces us to view them on an individual scale. Talking itself can be dangerous. Having learned from previous mistakes, I am now careful whom I talk to and what about.
I seek out foreigners to have conversations with. I can see that it’s a backwards strategy – making small talk with friends and family and opening up to strangers – but it’s safer. Life is hard for so many people, and informing on other people’s anti-government sentiments can gain privileges, which may translate into enough food to feed your family for a week. In many ways I can understand.
If I am seen speaking to a foreigner I will be questioned by the police. The foreigner will be left alone, as non-Burmese people aren't likely to be arrested and interrogated. This is largely an internal affair. I try to be careful and don’t talk to anyone who isn’t interested. As long as no one is in earshot I can always claim that I was asked for directions.
Although many foreigners have boycotted Burma, there are always a few who, for whatever reason, choose to see for themselves. If they are European they offer an opportunity for me to practise my English, which is an added incentive to head for the streets.
English is important for my studies. I'm a law student. Much of our legal system has been influenced by our colonial predecessors; there is still English-language legislation in the statute book, where much of the detail of Burmese history can be found.
I chose to study law in an attempt to counter the injustices around me, but now I realise that this is naive. Law is an easy subject in Burma. Where justice is non-existent, law ceases to be anything but a reinforcement of the state. There are a lot of lawyers here and competition is tight; income is far from guaranteed, even in this vocation.
I’m 22 years old. I’m still young but I feel I've missed out. I spent three years in prison – once for two years, and then for a term of one year. My crime was talking. There are many people here like me, and we are far from being a minority. In Burma, even whispering the word democracy can land you in serious trouble.
I have always been in Mandalay. My family is here; I have grown up, studied and been imprisoned here. My greatest dream is to leave. I've been trying to escape from this country for years, but family ties are strong and it is difficult to make that decisive step, to give up on everything that is happening around me.
A passport costs more than three times the average income of relatively wealthy Burmese person. And then there are the additional costs – bribes for the multitude of officials along the way. Even if I could somehow arrange the finances it would only be the first step. From the initial application to actual departure could take years, and only then could I think about applying for a visa. It’s an obvious but easy tactic by the junta to stop people from leaving the country and stop news of their regime from reaching the outside world. A lot of Burmese people risk crossing the border illegally.
I have a friend overseas who has offered to help me – someone I met a few years ago on an excursion into Mandalay when school was closed. I have his postal address, but every letter I have sent him was read and destroyed by officials. That was why I spent my second term in prison. Two years for writing, one year for talking.
I learned my lesson. Now, every time I write a letter I have to find a tourist willing to smuggle it out of the country – usually to Thailand, where it can be posted and hopefully reach its destination untouched. I don’t like to be beholden to others, or to impose, but I have a simple choice: to try or not.
Win Swe, whose name has been changed, was talking to Pete Browne.
Source: Guardian
Burma takes shots at John Rambo
On Deadline
February 22, 2008 - A Burmese DICTATORS' magazine issued a harsh critique of Sylvester Stallone's performance in the latest installment of the Rambo franchise.
The Voice, a privately owned magazine subject to censorship, says the American actor, whose character saves Christian missionaries being held in the jungles of the country also known as Myanmar, "looks funny fighting a war even though he's so fat with sagging breasts."
The magazine goes on to say Stallone looks like a "lunatic" in the banned movie.
AP says The Voice article is actually a "loosely translated" version of a review that appeared in The Straits Times last month. Here's how that paper described the action star: "He brings back his [John] Rambo for one more ridiculous battle even though he's so fat and man-breast heavy he looks like Blocky crashing through the jungle like a trip down mammary lane."
The wire service says a word the original author used to describe the ruling junta was lost in translation: "Dictators."
(Photo of Stallone taken by Karen Ballard, Lionsgate.)
February 22, 2008 - A Burmese DICTATORS' magazine issued a harsh critique of Sylvester Stallone's performance in the latest installment of the Rambo franchise.
The Voice, a privately owned magazine subject to censorship, says the American actor, whose character saves Christian missionaries being held in the jungles of the country also known as Myanmar, "looks funny fighting a war even though he's so fat with sagging breasts."
The magazine goes on to say Stallone looks like a "lunatic" in the banned movie.
AP says The Voice article is actually a "loosely translated" version of a review that appeared in The Straits Times last month. Here's how that paper described the action star: "He brings back his [John] Rambo for one more ridiculous battle even though he's so fat and man-breast heavy he looks like Blocky crashing through the jungle like a trip down mammary lane."
The wire service says a word the original author used to describe the ruling junta was lost in translation: "Dictators."
(Photo of Stallone taken by Karen Ballard, Lionsgate.)
Richfield Web company makes political sites
Working for a cause profitable, inspiring
Campaigns are on the Internet now
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
February 22, 2008 - Last year, Mike Connell found himself on the border of Thailand, teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma).
''You have these incredibly brave individuals who, in spite of the potential dangers, are willing to blog . . . and tell the rest of the world what's going on,'' Connell said.
Helping people in oppressed countries and emerging democracies is one area where Connell's company, New Media Communications, sees growth.
But right now, the bills at this small Richfield company are primarily paid by some very high-profile customers in the United States.
Connell's team helped develop the John McCain for President Web site, just as it helped develop the campaign Web sites for the last two Bush presidential races.
New Media Communications was founded in 1995 by Connell, who was bitten by the political bug in 1984 and never recovered.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, he worked on campaigns and ended up on Capitol Hill as press secretary for former U.S. Rep. Martin Hoke, R-Cleveland.
Connell made the journey to Northeast Ohio in 1994 after accepting Hoke's offer to work in the district. An Illinois native, Connell preferred to raise his young family in the Midwest rather than in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Connell was watching with interest some wild advancements in technology.
''I had the sense that there was something on the horizon,'' he said. ''I didn't know exactly what it was.''
''It'' turned out to be the Internet, and in 1996, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole became the first presidential candidates with campaign Web sites.
They weren't very interactive. Connell called them ''billboards in the sky.'' But it was clear this new form of media had forever changed the game.
In 1998, New Media Communications was chosen to design the campaign Web site for Jeb Bush — son of a former president, brother to a future president — who went on to win the governor's race in Florida.
''That's the race that put us on the map,'' Connell said.
In 2000, the Bush family went to New Media again. The company built George Bush's presidential campaign Web site then, and four years later for his run at a second term.
In between presidential elections, the company has built Web sites for a variety of Republican candidates, for organizations like the National Rifle Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, even a companion site to the film The Case for Christ.
Connell said there is great personal satisfaction that his business also serves causes he believes in.
''The one thing that I've learned about myself is if I don't get excited about something, it's tough for me to do the work,'' he said.
That doesn't mean everything has gone smoothly.
At one time, New Media employed more than 40 people, an upstart that made Inc. magazine's list of the country's fastest-growing companies.
But the tech stock crash of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks that year, led to a slow but steady downsizing of the company.
New Media now employs 18 and Connell said that painful period ended up making the company leaner and meaner.
Among other reasons, it now has the luxury of being picky about what projects it takes on.
When New Media was twice its size, it couldn't say no to a project. There was a payroll to meet and people who needed to stay busy.
But Connell said he wouldn't mind growing in the international arena.
New Media has done work overseas since the late 1990s, starting with former communist countries that were learning about democracy.
Connell found that people who had never run free elections before were far more open to high-tech experiments than here in the United States, where old habits die hard.
When Slovenia went to the polls in 2000, New Media organized a get-out-the-vote effort using cell-phone text messaging. In a country with poor infrastructure, wireless technology had leaped ahead of the Western world and 80 percent of the country's youth was texting.
That kind of work eventually led to Connell's interest in helping people communicate in closed societies, where governments censor the Internet and imprison people who speak their minds.
The risks were made clear to Connell last year when he met a young man on the Myanmar border who had spent much of his adult life in prison for circulating lyrics to a song critical of the government.
In addition to training groups and individuals on how to use technology without getting caught, Connell hopes New Media will contribute to adapting that technology as governments learn how to close old avenues down. He compared it to a game of cat and mouse.
''Part of the strategies in a lot of these areas is to prevent people from letting the rest of the world know what's really going on in the country and how bad the conditions are and what the human-rights violations are,'' Connell said, ''so the Internet becomes a megaphone for telling the rest of the world, 'Hey, this is what's really happening here,' and send out your cry for help.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Last year, Mike Connell found himself on the border of Thailand, teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma).
''You have these incredibly brave individuals who, in spite of the potential dangers, are willing to blog . . . and tell the rest of the world what's going on,'' Connell said.
Helping people in oppressed countries and emerging democracies is one area where Connell's company, New Media Communications, sees growth.
But right now, the bills at this small Richfield company are primarily paid by some very high-profile customers in the United States.
Connell's team helped develop the John McCain for President Web site, just as it helped develop the campaign Web sites for the last two Bush presidential races.
New Media Communications was founded in 1995 by Connell, who was bitten by the political bug in 1984 and never recovered.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, he worked on campaigns and ended up on Capitol Hill as press secretary for former U.S. Rep. Martin Hoke, R-Cleveland.
Connell made the journey to Northeast Ohio in 1994 after accepting Hoke's offer to work in the district. An Illinois native, Connell preferred to raise his young family in the Midwest rather than in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Connell was watching with interest some wild advancements in technology.
''I had the sense that there was something on the horizon,'' he said. ''I didn't know exactly what it was.''
''It'' turned out to be the Internet, and in 1996, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole became the first presidential candidates with campaign Web sites.
They weren't very interactive. Connell called them ''billboards in the sky.'' But it was clear this new form of media had forever changed the game.
In 1998, New Media Communications was chosen to design the campaign Web site for Jeb Bush — son of a former president, brother to a future president — who went on to win the governor's race in Florida.
''That's the race that put us on the map,'' Connell said.
In 2000, the Bush family went to New Media again. The company built George Bush's presidential campaign Web site then, and four years later for his run at a second term.
In between presidential elections, the company has built Web sites for a variety of Republican candidates, for organizations like the National Rifle Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, even a companion site to the film The Case for Christ.
Connell said there is great personal satisfaction that his business also serves causes he believes in.
''The one thing that I've learned about myself is if I don't get excited about something, it's tough for me to do the work,'' he said.
That doesn't mean everything has gone smoothly.
At one time, New Media employed more than 40 people, an upstart that made Inc. magazine's list of the country's fastest-growing companies.
But the tech stock crash of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks that year, led to a slow but steady downsizing of the company.
New Media now employs 18 and Connell said that painful period ended up making the company leaner and meaner.
Among other reasons, it now has the luxury of being picky about what projects it takes on.
When New Media was twice its size, it couldn't say no to a project. There was a payroll to meet and people who needed to stay busy.
But Connell said he wouldn't mind growing in the international arena.
New Media has done work overseas since the late 1990s, starting with former communist countries that were learning about democracy.
Connell found that people who had never run free elections before were far more open to high-tech experiments than here in the United States, where old habits die hard.
When Slovenia went to the polls in 2000, New Media organized a get-out-the-vote effort using cell-phone text messaging. In a country with poor infrastructure, wireless technology had leaped ahead of the Western world and 80 percent of the country's youth was texting.
That kind of work eventually led to Connell's interest in helping people communicate in closed societies, where governments censor the Internet and imprison people who speak their minds.
The risks were made clear to Connell last year when he met a young man on the Myanmar border who had spent much of his adult life in prison for circulating lyrics to a song critical of the government.
In addition to training groups and individuals on how to use technology without getting caught, Connell hopes New Media will contribute to adapting that technology as governments learn how to close old avenues down. He compared it to a game of cat and mouse.
''Part of the strategies in a lot of these areas is to prevent people from letting the rest of the world know what's really going on in the country and how bad the conditions are and what the human-rights violations are,'' Connell said, ''so the Internet becomes a megaphone for telling the rest of the world, 'Hey, this is what's really happening here,' and send out your cry for help.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Campaigns are on the Internet now
By Paula Schleis
Beacon Journal business writer
February 22, 2008 - Last year, Mike Connell found himself on the border of Thailand, teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma).
''You have these incredibly brave individuals who, in spite of the potential dangers, are willing to blog . . . and tell the rest of the world what's going on,'' Connell said.
Helping people in oppressed countries and emerging democracies is one area where Connell's company, New Media Communications, sees growth.
But right now, the bills at this small Richfield company are primarily paid by some very high-profile customers in the United States.
Connell's team helped develop the John McCain for President Web site, just as it helped develop the campaign Web sites for the last two Bush presidential races.
New Media Communications was founded in 1995 by Connell, who was bitten by the political bug in 1984 and never recovered.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, he worked on campaigns and ended up on Capitol Hill as press secretary for former U.S. Rep. Martin Hoke, R-Cleveland.
Connell made the journey to Northeast Ohio in 1994 after accepting Hoke's offer to work in the district. An Illinois native, Connell preferred to raise his young family in the Midwest rather than in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Connell was watching with interest some wild advancements in technology.
''I had the sense that there was something on the horizon,'' he said. ''I didn't know exactly what it was.''
''It'' turned out to be the Internet, and in 1996, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole became the first presidential candidates with campaign Web sites.
They weren't very interactive. Connell called them ''billboards in the sky.'' But it was clear this new form of media had forever changed the game.
In 1998, New Media Communications was chosen to design the campaign Web site for Jeb Bush — son of a former president, brother to a future president — who went on to win the governor's race in Florida.
''That's the race that put us on the map,'' Connell said.
In 2000, the Bush family went to New Media again. The company built George Bush's presidential campaign Web site then, and four years later for his run at a second term.
In between presidential elections, the company has built Web sites for a variety of Republican candidates, for organizations like the National Rifle Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, even a companion site to the film The Case for Christ.
Connell said there is great personal satisfaction that his business also serves causes he believes in.
''The one thing that I've learned about myself is if I don't get excited about something, it's tough for me to do the work,'' he said.
That doesn't mean everything has gone smoothly.
At one time, New Media employed more than 40 people, an upstart that made Inc. magazine's list of the country's fastest-growing companies.
But the tech stock crash of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks that year, led to a slow but steady downsizing of the company.
New Media now employs 18 and Connell said that painful period ended up making the company leaner and meaner.
Among other reasons, it now has the luxury of being picky about what projects it takes on.
When New Media was twice its size, it couldn't say no to a project. There was a payroll to meet and people who needed to stay busy.
But Connell said he wouldn't mind growing in the international arena.
New Media has done work overseas since the late 1990s, starting with former communist countries that were learning about democracy.
Connell found that people who had never run free elections before were far more open to high-tech experiments than here in the United States, where old habits die hard.
When Slovenia went to the polls in 2000, New Media organized a get-out-the-vote effort using cell-phone text messaging. In a country with poor infrastructure, wireless technology had leaped ahead of the Western world and 80 percent of the country's youth was texting.
That kind of work eventually led to Connell's interest in helping people communicate in closed societies, where governments censor the Internet and imprison people who speak their minds.
The risks were made clear to Connell last year when he met a young man on the Myanmar border who had spent much of his adult life in prison for circulating lyrics to a song critical of the government.
In addition to training groups and individuals on how to use technology without getting caught, Connell hopes New Media will contribute to adapting that technology as governments learn how to close old avenues down. He compared it to a game of cat and mouse.
''Part of the strategies in a lot of these areas is to prevent people from letting the rest of the world know what's really going on in the country and how bad the conditions are and what the human-rights violations are,'' Connell said, ''so the Internet becomes a megaphone for telling the rest of the world, 'Hey, this is what's really happening here,' and send out your cry for help.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
Last year, Mike Connell found himself on the border of Thailand, teaching young people how to safely use technology to spread the word of human-rights violations against Buddhist monks in neighboring Myanmar (Burma).
''You have these incredibly brave individuals who, in spite of the potential dangers, are willing to blog . . . and tell the rest of the world what's going on,'' Connell said.
Helping people in oppressed countries and emerging democracies is one area where Connell's company, New Media Communications, sees growth.
But right now, the bills at this small Richfield company are primarily paid by some very high-profile customers in the United States.
Connell's team helped develop the John McCain for President Web site, just as it helped develop the campaign Web sites for the last two Bush presidential races.
New Media Communications was founded in 1995 by Connell, who was bitten by the political bug in 1984 and never recovered.
After graduating from the University of Iowa, he worked on campaigns and ended up on Capitol Hill as press secretary for former U.S. Rep. Martin Hoke, R-Cleveland.
Connell made the journey to Northeast Ohio in 1994 after accepting Hoke's offer to work in the district. An Illinois native, Connell preferred to raise his young family in the Midwest rather than in Washington, D.C.
Meanwhile, Connell was watching with interest some wild advancements in technology.
''I had the sense that there was something on the horizon,'' he said. ''I didn't know exactly what it was.''
''It'' turned out to be the Internet, and in 1996, Bill Clinton and Bob Dole became the first presidential candidates with campaign Web sites.
They weren't very interactive. Connell called them ''billboards in the sky.'' But it was clear this new form of media had forever changed the game.
In 1998, New Media Communications was chosen to design the campaign Web site for Jeb Bush — son of a former president, brother to a future president — who went on to win the governor's race in Florida.
''That's the race that put us on the map,'' Connell said.
In 2000, the Bush family went to New Media again. The company built George Bush's presidential campaign Web site then, and four years later for his run at a second term.
In between presidential elections, the company has built Web sites for a variety of Republican candidates, for organizations like the National Rifle Association and the American Center for Law and Justice, even a companion site to the film The Case for Christ.
Connell said there is great personal satisfaction that his business also serves causes he believes in.
''The one thing that I've learned about myself is if I don't get excited about something, it's tough for me to do the work,'' he said.
That doesn't mean everything has gone smoothly.
At one time, New Media employed more than 40 people, an upstart that made Inc. magazine's list of the country's fastest-growing companies.
But the tech stock crash of 2001, followed by the terrorist attacks that year, led to a slow but steady downsizing of the company.
New Media now employs 18 and Connell said that painful period ended up making the company leaner and meaner.
Among other reasons, it now has the luxury of being picky about what projects it takes on.
When New Media was twice its size, it couldn't say no to a project. There was a payroll to meet and people who needed to stay busy.
But Connell said he wouldn't mind growing in the international arena.
New Media has done work overseas since the late 1990s, starting with former communist countries that were learning about democracy.
Connell found that people who had never run free elections before were far more open to high-tech experiments than here in the United States, where old habits die hard.
When Slovenia went to the polls in 2000, New Media organized a get-out-the-vote effort using cell-phone text messaging. In a country with poor infrastructure, wireless technology had leaped ahead of the Western world and 80 percent of the country's youth was texting.
That kind of work eventually led to Connell's interest in helping people communicate in closed societies, where governments censor the Internet and imprison people who speak their minds.
The risks were made clear to Connell last year when he met a young man on the Myanmar border who had spent much of his adult life in prison for circulating lyrics to a song critical of the government.
In addition to training groups and individuals on how to use technology without getting caught, Connell hopes New Media will contribute to adapting that technology as governments learn how to close old avenues down. He compared it to a game of cat and mouse.
''Part of the strategies in a lot of these areas is to prevent people from letting the rest of the world know what's really going on in the country and how bad the conditions are and what the human-rights violations are,'' Connell said, ''so the Internet becomes a megaphone for telling the rest of the world, 'Hey, this is what's really happening here,' and send out your cry for help.''
Paula Schleis can be reached at 330-996-3741 or pschleis@thebeaconjournal.com.
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