Bono Gets (RED) Ink on His Hands

If you haven’t seen it yet, a British newspaper, the Independent, turned over editing responsibilities to Bono. The rock star turned savior of Africa is touring Africa this week to see how aid is working, and to promote the Global Fund and some other initiatives.The issue is impressive and a must read for anyone interested in public health or Africa. Among the rather eclectic set of articles:

• An editorial from Bono himself,
• A message from Nelson Mandela
• Condoleezza Rice on the ten best works of music ever . We already knew she loves classical music, but who would’ve thought our Secretary of State rocks out to Kool and the Gang?
• Stella McCartney interviews Georgio Armani about fashion.
• The infamous and fabulous Paul Farmer talks about his new work in Rwanda and future plans in Africa
• Bob Geldof on why Africa should be allowed to trade, rather than depend on aid

And plenty of others. In fact, there’s just a huge amount of useful information and interesting opinion here. Half the proceeds from sales yesterday went to the Global Fund and if you’re reading this online, well, go buy something RED. What is somewhat surprising is how much momentum the RED campaign is gaining. As I’ve written before here and here , I support the concept of RED but I wasn't sure how much money it would raise. I still don’t know the answer, but the answer seems to be more than initially thought. Will AmEx please go ahead and license the RED credit cards in the US?