Peaceniks Heart Bingaman: Santa Fe Jews upset by escalating violence in the Gaza Strip have formed Another Jewish Voice of Santa Fe (Contact: Jeff Haas, 505-469-0714).

The group of more than 30 members sent a letter this week thanking US Sen. Jeff Bingaman, D-NM, for opposing Senate Resolution 10, a non-binding resolution supporting Israel’s actions.

“Your expressions of concern about the need to condemn the excessive force used by Israel, along with the rocketing of civilian populations by Hamas and about the need to provide immediate humanitarian aid to the devastated people living in the Gaza Strip showed insight and leadership,” the letter, faxed to Bingaman on Feb. 9, says.

Out of Sight: Speaking of rockets…In the last days of President George W Bush’s term, Netfires, LLC (a partnership between defense contractors Raytheon Company and Lockheed Martin) had fun blowing up tanks at the White Sands Missile Range in southern New Mexico.

The $1.1 billion Netfires weapons system centers around a “Non Line-of-Sight Launch System Precision Attack Missile,” which, in layman’s terms, means a smart missile that can be fired and literally left to its own devices, thanks to its to “fire-and-forget” targeting system. It’s one of 14 projects making up the US Military’s Future Combat Systems program.

It comes in a portable launch unit that fits in the back of a truck and can fire 15 missiles at five-second intervals. The Netfires system has 13 more test flights to go before it’s officially ready for deployment.

Face the Book: New technology ain’t all bad, and Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Bernalillo, isn’t the only elected official jumping into the digital age [see page 16]. US Rep. Ben Ray Luján, D-NM, is now posting updates through the micro-blogging tool Twitter. Luján spokesman Mark Nicastre says it is indeed the freshly elected congressman himself tweeting. Plus, approximately a dozen state legislators are communicating with constituents via the social networking application Facebook, including Majority Floor Leader Rep. W Ken Martinez, D-Cibola.

Rep. Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, however, posed an interesting question to SFR: Are items—say baby pictures—posted to Facebook “off the record?” Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Brian Colón says no.
“I think Facebook is on the record,” Colón tells SFR, via Facebook message. “I have been on Facebook for nearly two years and I know it is out there for the world to view. I don’t think there is a reasonable expectation of privacy if your profile is public.”