tom scotto

Main research interests are in American and Canadian electoral behaviour and public opinion. Recent work includes co-authored articles on Canadian politics in Electoral Studies, PS: Political Science and Politics and The American Review of Canadian Studies and an article on the impact of Latino immigration on political attitudes in the American South appearing in the Journal of Politics. Currently projects include: a book length manuscript (with Allan Kornberg and Harold Clarke) that compares models of voting behaviour in Canada and the United States; survey experiments analyzing support for military intervention among Canadian citizens; and modelling the impact of changing religiosity on the dynamics of partisanship in the United States. Teaching areas are in American politics and research methodology (quantitative and qualitative).
Tom is a powerful speaker, leader and example in successfully launching complex services, websites and applications.

Tom hails originally from Brooklyn, NY and is still a Mets fan (this is a good year for that). Tom's early jaunts took him to upstate New York as a gearhead and motorhead. He drove a 1940 Willys Jeep and regularly did nutty things like dropping the transmission while on a trip to fix it.

A gifted organizer, Tom's innate ability to create order and structure out of random or complex patterns led him to Berklee School of Music where he majored in Music Composition. Tom's instrument of choice was the drums, which was later changed to the tapping on the keys of a computer, to his wife's great lament.

Tom is a choreographer, leader and organizer at heart. In the previous 4 years as CEO of eScotto.net, Inc., he and his team have worked with over 80 clients to launch software and web-based products into dozens of industries. Tom's specific work has included market requirements definition, functional spec creation, information architecture, managing developers, leading project teams, managing release deadlines and hitting major milestones.

HOLLYWOOD, CA (Hollywood Today) 9/17/07 ― Widespread shock, if not surprise, has been registering nationwide on news that O.J. Simpson is once again behind bars for an attack wherein he wanted something he felt was his.


The football hall-of-famer and former murder suspect is still in jail without bail on six counts related to an alleged armed robbery. He will face a hearing on Wednesday morning when a judge could set bail and release him, though under the law, he can be held 72 hours without charges. He was not allowed bail by the first judge to examine the charges.


Las Vegas detectives arrested 60-year old OJ Simpson at around 11:05am Sunday while staying at the Palms Casino Resort. According to reports, the retired NFL player is scheduled for a hearing on Wednesday morning to determine bail before Clark County Judge Ann Zimmerman.


OJ"s golfing buddy, 46-year old Wayne Alexander, an alleged co-conspirator in the armed robbery, was arrested Saturday and charged with two counts of robbery with a deadly weapon, two of assault with a deadly weapon and conspiracy to commit robbery and burglary with a deadly weapon.


After the arrest he was questioned by police and later advised by his attorney Robert Dennis Rentzer, to cooperate under an agreement that bars LV district attorneys from using his statements against him in court.


Captain James Dillon of the LV Metropolitan Police Dept, announced during a news conference that information provided by Alexander led police to multiple undisclosed locations, which led to

the seizure of the two alleged weapons used during the armed robbery. They also seized clothing worn by some of the suspects and other allegedly stolen property.


But another huge blow to Simpson's claim of innocence is the newly revealed audio tape that identifies him as front and center during the scene of the crime. Monday, TMZ.com published what it said, was Simpson and entourage on audiotape, during the alleged robbery.


"Think you can steal my (expletive) and sell it," says a voice identified by TMZ.com as Simpson's.

The recording was reportedly made by Tom Riccio, co-owner of the auction house Universal Rarities, according to the internet site.


One of the victims, memorabilia dealer Alfred Beardsley told police that he does not wish to press charges at this time, following an apology from ex-friend OJ. However, because the incident involves criminal charges, it is now out of his hands and in the tight grip of Clark County DA David Roger.


Roger said that he intends to file formal charges this week against Simpson and the other five suspects.


"I want this thing to go away. I have health problems," said Beardsley, of Burbank, CA. He said he "had no desire to fly back and forth to Las Vegas to testify," he told the AP. The third victim was named Bruce Fromong.


A day after the incident, Simpson told the Daily News and other reporters that the uproar over his alleged memorabilia stick-up is "over." However, DA Roger vows to prosecute Simpson to the fullest degree. He will not walk away scot-free this time. Roger is determined to do what Los Angeles prosecutors failed to do 12-years ago and that is to put him behind bars.


Now retired Los Angeles prosecutor Marcia Clark also weighed-in on the arrest saying, "They might actually nail him this time." Clark led the failed 1995 prosecution against Simpson that acquitted the football player of charges that he murdered ex-wife Nicole Brown and waiter Ron Goldman.


Las Vegas detective Lt. Clint Nichols alleges that The Juice incited a group of about five buddies, who allegedly took a small group of memorabilia dealers by surprise Thursday night. The Simpson group knocked on the door posing as an interested buyer and after the door opened allegedly robbed the memorabilia sellers at gunpoint.


"It was kind of scary," said Tom Riccio, the dealer who tipped Simpson off about the items in question and who was actually in the room during the robbery. He told Fox News that "(They) meant business."


Riccio, who set this supposed "sting operation" into motion when he told Simpson about the sale to begin with, is also the one who contradicted Simpson's claim that weapons were involved in the crime.


Simpson was purportedly in Vegas for his best friend's wedding vow-renewal party, given by Thomas Scotto and his wife. Scotto is also an alleged accomplice, but insists that he was not involved. "It's a total lie," Scotto told the AP, a day after Simpson served as his best man.


Scotto had not been questioned yet by police, but expected them to show at any moment, to ask where he was and what he knows regarding the crime.


Simpson told many reporters that he was taking matters into his own hands. Alleging that since e since his problems with the law after the well-publicized murder trial, he doesn't believe that the police are helpful for him. He claims that he was just trying to retrieve personal items that belong to him, including family photos and the suit he wore when he was acquitted of murder back in 1995.


Many collectors made a lot of money from Simpson memorabilia seized from his possession to help pay the civil suit won by Fred Goldman after the murder acquittal in the death of his son waiter Ron Goldman and Nicole Brown Simpson.


Simpson says this whole thing is just a big misunderstanding and he thinks he's done absolutely nothing wrong.

In the previous 10 years, Tom worked at a large nonprofit where he was the lead in launching 60 (not a typo) unique custom-coded software products in areas as diverse as messaging, email, reporting, project management, help desk, inventory, content management, product versioning & release and even led the creation of a custom Project Management System (MS Project just couldn't cut it).

He has trained and worked with customers in more than 75 countries.

One of his most exciting projects was developing a global messaging application that had to be designed so it worked in Lagos, Nigeria, a location that had only 2 hours of power a day, 4 days a week and used 9600 baud modems. Oh yes, the product also had to have full functionality for customers in New York City using high-speed internet connections.

Tom is an athlete and a competitive cyclist who is the GM and coach of the Quad Cycles Racing Team in Arlington, MA. He is the founder of Stage5 Cycling, a company that serves the needs of recreational to elite cyclists.

Tom resides in Arlington, MA with his wife and 3 children, all of whom think he's nuts because at the annual family reunion, he leaves at 5am and bikes 100+ miles to get there while the family leaves several hours later in the minivan and tries to catch up to him.

that guy who led O.J. to the so-called "sting operation" on Thursday that resulted in his arrest yesterday? -- you may remember him as a "memorabilia dealer" who tried to sell Anna Nicole Smith's diaries for $500K and even hawked a video that he claimed showed an Anna Nicole boob job.

The Las Vegas Journal-Review reports that Tom Riccio and Simpson got hooked up two years ago when Riccio booked Simpson to sign memorabilia at the NecroComicon show in L.A., where almost all of the actors who showed up were known for -- guess what? -- their roles in horror and slasher films.

Meanwhile, O.J.'s friend, Thomas Scotto, might not think O.J. is such the best man now, after he told the New York Post that Simpson "ruined" his wedding. Scotto is being sought by cops in the case -- and was trying to get out of the country on his honeymoon. "I don't want the police to pick me up at the airport."

TMZ is all over the O.J. situation, so keep checking back for plenty of updates during the day.


Spears "Secret Witness" � Not a Dealer?

It's D-Day in the Spears-Federline custody battle, and the "secret witness" that lawyer Gloria Allred claims has important information in the case will be with Gloria in court today. FOX News reports that the witness is not a drug dealer -- just someone who has had "close observation" of Britney's interaction with her kids.

Allred, for her part, claimed over the weekend that the judge in the case had accepted the signed declaration of the witness -- and "even praised her work," according to FOX.


Party Favors: Did Emmy Producers Really, Really Not Like Sally's Tirade? ... Trump Vodka Tastes Like "Snack Cracker"

Sally Field's acceptance speech last night at the Emmys was cut short after she exceeded the time limit, but the buzz is that she might've gotten chopped when she started haranguing against the Iraq war. ... Professional tasters have proclaimed that Trump