Christopher Zoukis's Blog, page 32
February 24, 2014
New eBook: Directory of Federal Prisons
By Christopher Zoukis 
Today I'm proud to announce the release of my latest title, the Directory of Federal Prisons: PrisonLawBlog.com's Federal Bureau of Prisons Facility Directory by Christopher Zoukis and Dr. Randall Radic (Middle Street Publishing, 2014).
This ebook provides the official contact information (e.g., street address, phone number, fax number, and email address) for every federal prison and private prison that houses federal prisoners, along with basic character profiles for e...
February 21, 2014
Movie Review: The Eagle
By Christopher Zoukis 
Image courtesy rottentomatoes.com
The military standard of the Roman Empire – more accurately known as SPQR (the senate and people of Rome) – was an eagle fabricated of gold. No enemy was ever allowed to take and hold the eagle. If, by chance, an eagle was lost to the enemy, the might of the entire Roman Empire was brought to bear in finding and regaining the eagle. That’s the premise of the new movie – The Eagle -- directed by Kevin Macdonald, who also directed The Last...
February 17, 2014
Dark History: Mexico’s Drug Cartels – Part 3
By Christopher Zoukis / BlogCritics.org
Most of the Sinaloa Cartel’s gangbangers were from MS-13, Mara Salvatrucha. In other words, they were rough boys from El Salvador and the Honduras. With a reputation for brutal violence, MS-13 gangs were the baddest of the bad asses. Only it turned out the Zetas were badder, making the MS-13 gangbangers look like three-year olds at a church picnic. Using heavy weapons and military tactics, the Zetas chopped MS-13 into bits and pieces.
The leader of the...
February 12, 2014
Bloods Redux
History
According to Julia Dunn, a gang “is an interstitial group, original formed spontaneously, and then integrated through conflict.” The term ‘interstitial’ refers to a culturally isolated or marginalized group of individuals, who, because of external circumstances (racism, lack of education, unemployment), have been left behind. These individuals adopt a ‘strength through numbers’ attitude, assume collective standards of behavior, develop ad hoc structures of hierar...
February 10, 2014
Seven Books Every American Prisoner and Criminal Attorney Should Own
By Christopher Zoukis / BlogCritics.org
It’s not always easy to locate quality legal books about prison law or prisoners’ rights. For starters, the field is a highly specialized one in which many like to call themselves experts, but few are worthy of such a designation. To make matters worse, lives depend on what is read and put into application. Even from a practical level, law books are often so expensive that simply purchasing several of them in pursuit of the right set is plainly cost pro...
February 7, 2014
Interview: Barbara Carole, Author of ‘Twelve Stones’
Today, I’m pleased to interview Barbara Carole about her memoir Twelve Stones which tells the story of an intensely personal, unorthodox journey to faith. Gritty, plain-spoken and fast paced, this book reads like a novel – with vibrant characters, dialogue and action on three continents – but it is all true.
Barbara, a Fulbright scholar and graduate of the University of Wisconsin with B.A. and M.A. degrees in literature, lived in Paris for s...
February 3, 2014
Poppy von Frohlich
By Christopher Zoukis / BlogCritics.org
Haute couture is big business in San Francisco, the City by the Bay, a hip and with-it kind of place. Lots of money, lots of well-paid high-tech drones working for start-ups. Still, since haute couture’s business model revolves around super-expensive exclusivity that then trickles down to the masses by way of knock-offs and prêt-à-porter lines, even well-paid techies can’t afford the good stuff. The reigning business model either cuts them out of the ru...
January 31, 2014
A Shield
By Christopher Zoukis 
Image courtesy commons.wikimedia.org
Kali Sikaran is a martial arts system developed in Southeast Asia during the Majapahit Empire. The Majapahit Empire, concentrated on the Island of Java in contemporary Indonesia, thrived because of its proximity to commercial trading routes on the Indian Ocean. More specifically, the empire controlled the Straits of Malacca, which meant Java was a maritime hub. At its pinnacle, the Majapahit Empire extended over the bulk of Southeast...
January 27, 2014
Musical Chairs
Most of the Sinaloa Cartel’s gangbangers were from MS-13, Mara Salvatrucha. In other words, they were rough boys from El Salvador and the Honduras. With a reputation for brutal violence, MS-13 gangs were the baddest of the bad asses. Only it turned out the Zetas were badder, making the MS-13 gangbangers look like three-year olds at a church picnic. Using heavy weapons and military tactics, the Zetas chopped MS-13 into bits and pieces.
The leader of the Zetas was Heribert...
January 24, 2014
25 Best YA Sci-Fi Novels
By Christopher Zoukis/ BlogCritics.org
Bored out of your mind with video games? Got over 500 channels in hi-def and nothing’s on? Here’s a novel idea: read a novel! You know the things with pages and printing and an enticing picture on the cover.
Sci-fi for Young Adults is mega-popular. In fact, Young Adult fiction is all the rage even among adults. And Hollywood has caught the virus big-time. Harry Potter, Twilight, The Hunger Games and Ender’s Game have all hit the big screen and enjoyed ma...
