Understanding the Structure of a Large Heroin Distribution Network: A Quantitative Analysis of Qualitative Data

An analysis is reported of 2,408 wiretap conversations gathered in the course of prosecuting a heroin dealing organization in New York City in the 1990s. The five-step analysis, which included a social network analysis of phone contacts, revealed a large, loosely structured group of 294 individuals, most of whom had very limited contacts with others in the group. The group’s active core comprised 38 individuals with extended contacts, little status differentiation and some task specialization. A smaller more tightly connected group of 22 individuals was somewhat independent of the remainder of the core and appeared to constitute a “communal business”. The existence was not confirmed of the large criminal conspiracy described by the prosecution that operated at all levels of trafficking and dealing, from wholesale distribution to street sales. Rather, it appeared that the 294 individuals comprised one segment of the heroin market in the city. However, the discrepancy could be due to the fact that the prosecution drew upon a wider set of information about the individuals concerned than provided by the wiretap data. The study supports recent analyses that see organized crimes, such as drug trafficking, as mostly the work of small groups of loosely linked entrepreneurs rather than large, highly structured criminal syndicates.

开辟中小企业融资新通道

中小企业吸纳就业人员多,是我国社会经济发展不可缺少的组成部分,在国民经济中具有大企业无法替代的作用,然而长期以来,中小企业的融资问题一直是困扰中小企业发展的重要制约因素。其原因众多,必须从发展地方性中小金融机构,完善相关法律和担保制度,规范民间融资活动,创新中小企业集群融资模式,充分发挥融资租赁和资本市场的作用,借鉴国外支持中小企业发展的一些做法等方面加以解决。     

朱元璋罢建中都与《明太祖实录》的隐讳

朱元璋定都临濠、兴建中都、罢建中都是明初重要的政治事件,<明太祖实录>的记载却相对简单.通过相关文献的比较研究可以发现,为了维护朱元璋的形象,<明太祖实录>有意篡改了朱元璋罢建中都的部分事实,目的是为了掩盖他在建都问题上的决策失误.事实上,洪武八年中都宫殿罢建和南京宫殿改建的直接原因是朱元璋的迷信思想在作祟,他害怕工匠的"厌镇"破坏了宫殿的风水,不利于自己的统治.     

The Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014: A Litany of Fundamental Flaws?

This article argues that the Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014 are fatally flawed notwithstanding the apparent rigour of the process which produced them. These Regulations were the product of considerable deliberation following a sensitively executed public inquiry yet, it is argued, they rely too heavily on the rhetoric of criminal law while failing to take into account the competing norms for compliance and the impact of NHS budget constraints. Further, they push the CQC towards a heavy‐handed deterrence approach to enforcement, which will increase hostility between regulatees and the inspectorate, and ultimately reduce the scope for developing the transparency about failures which is sorely needed in the NHS. This article challenges the contemporary wisdom that it is primarily knee‐jerk regulatory responses that suffer from fatal flaws of this nature.