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Bono in WaPo

Via Ben Martin, here's a write-up of Bono's speech to ASAE and the Centre. Blogging has been light lately, not that too many people would notice :) I have been trying to get caught up on some things at home and work. These will be useful for me. Also, I just joined the board as secretary of a group called RescueGroups.org. I went to my first meeting yesterday, and it was a great group of folks doing some cool stuff. I'm very much looking forward to it, and it's just fun meeting new people.

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