WASHINGTON — Comedians like Chris Rock and Jerry Seinfeld don’t really have to worry about being dethroned as funny guys — at least if the competition is the straight-laced and often stoic FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III.

Still, from time to time,  the director slips a little humor into his speeches. On Friday, in a speech before the Citizens Crime Commission of New York, Mueller said;

“Today, we communicate by texting, tweeting, and Skyping. We take pictures without film, we read books without pages, and every six-year-old has a smart phone. We share the sundry details of our lives on Facebook. Well, most of us do. For some reason, no one wants to be “friended” by the Director of the FBI.

“YouTube made its debut just five years ago. Today, 35 hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute. Most of them feature someone by the name of Justin Bieber. At my age, I have to wonder, who the heck is this kid, and why can’t he get a haircut?”

Robert Mueller III/fbi file photo

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III said Friday that tentacles of organized crime go far beyond the shores of the U.S. and is an international menace.

“Some believe that organized crime is a thing of the past,” Mueller said during a speech before the Citizens Crime Commission of New York.  “Unfortunately, this is not the case. Traditional criminal syndicates still con, extort, and intimidate American citizens.

“But the playing field has changed. We have seen a shift from regional families with a clear structure, to flat, fluid networks with global reach.”

“Organized criminals have become “service providers”, Mueller said. ” Could a Mexican group move a terrorist across the border? Could an Eastern European enterprise sell a Weapon of Mass Destruction to a terrorist cell? Likely, yes.

Mohamad Hammoud/mecklenburg co. sheriff’s photo

They say federal judges have plenty powers, and in fact, they can make a century or more disappear with the snap of a finger.

That’s just what happened Thursday when U.S. District Judge Graham Mullen in Charlotte, N.C. reduced the 155 year sentence of Hezbollah supporter Mohamad Hammoud to 30 years in prison, the Associated Press reported.

“The crime represented here was not as serious as other terrorism cases,” Mullen said, according to AP.

Hammoud, 37, a North Carolina businessman, was convicted in 2002 of financing suspected Hezbollah terrorists in Lebanon with profits from a multimillion-dollar cigarette-smuggling operation he ran with his brother. Prosecutors at the time accused him of being the leader of a terrorist cell.

AP reported that Hammoud, from Lebanon, will likely spend 20 more years in prison and then be deported.

His attorneys wanted the sentence reduced to the 10 years served, saying the money Hammoud raised was for a wing of Hezbollah that helps provide clean water and good housing to communities.

By Allan Lengel

Ronald Kessler of Newmax.com writes that Secret Service agents on President Reagan’s detail say the 40th president “was sharp until several years after he left the presidency”, contrary to what son Ron wrote in his latest book.

“We had a hundred twenty agents on his detail, and he seemed to remember everyone’s name,” former agent Glenn Smith said of Reagan when he was in the White House, according to Kessler. Kessler authored the book “In the President’s Secret Service: Behind the Scenes with Agents in the Line of Fire and the Presidents They Protect.”

The President’s son Ron Reagan claims in his just-released book “My Father at 100” that his father showed signs of Alzheimer’s Disease in his second term.

To read more click here.

More details are surfacing about the mysterious bomb that was found along the parade route of the MLK Day parade in Spokane, Wash. on Jan. 17.

CNN reports that the bomb contained rat poisoning and metal shrapnel, all designed to maximize damage.

The Spokesman-Review reported that the rat poison is used to prevent blood from coagulating. The bomb, contained in a Swiss Army-brand backpack, was found before the parade began.

Authorities have said that they suspect the incident may have been racially motivated. No arrests have been made.

A $20,000 reward is being offered in the case.