By Steve Clemons

— Steve Clemons

(photo credit: Paul Schutzer/Courtesy of LIFE.com; for larger version click photo; description below) What appears above and below are never before seen images illustrating two major Martin Luther King Jr.

This is a guest note by regular TWN reader Donald Bacon. The piece originally appeared a year ago on the blog site of Taylor Marsh. I miss you, Martin Luther King, Jr. I know many people today don’t remember you, and that’s a pity, because there stood a man.

Global futurist Parag Khanna shared the outlines and key themes of his new book, How to Run the World: Creating a Course to the Next Renaissance, at a New America Foundation event last week.

First of all, it’s important to remember that today is Martin Luther King day — a “day on” rather than a “day off” as Barack Obama said in commemorating remarks this morning.

This is a guest note by defense expert and businessman Harlan Ullman who serves as Chairman of the Killowen Group that advises leaders of government and business and who also serves as Senior Advisor at Atlantic Council of the United States.

This is a guest note by Jordan D’Amato who has recently joined the New America Foundation’s American Strategy Program as a research assistant. As grainy pictures of China’s new J-20 stealth fighter circulate the internet, many American defense analysts have been tempted to sound the alarms.

This is a letter and collection of photos from regular TWN reader Paul Norheim that I thought deserved placement on the blog. — Steve Clemons Hi Steve, I’ve just returned from a seven weeks’ vacation in Ethiopia.

The following is a statement by Richard A. Viguerie, Chairman of ConservativeHQ.com, regarding the shooting in Tucson, Arizona of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords: “I was with Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords on a panel just last week at Renaissance Weekend in Charleston, South Carolina. Gabby is a warm, upbeat, and cheerful woman who I’ve been blessed to know….

Statement from Jim and Sarah Brady: Jim and I are deeply saddened and deeply angered by the shooting of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, members of her staff, Judge John Roll, and the constituents, including a 9-year-old child, who had assembled with her outside of a Tucson grocery store today.