Groups seem more broken than before

Kmail 1.13.3
KDE 4.4.3
kaddressbook 4.4.3
no akonadi/nepomuk errors reported
one vcard addressbook set as default

If I create a distribution list or group using the Save List button on the 
composer window, an empty group is created.

If I open Kaddressbook and create a group from there, The group exists for a 
few seconds, then becomes empty.  All groups previously created are empty.

For a while, creating groups didn't always work, but existing ones did.  Now 
the existing ones are empty.

-- 
Art Alexion