Mark Anthony Conditt

Some big city police force or detective agency should hire me.  Last night, prior to his apprehension, I predicted that Mark Anthony Conditt was a young angry white male, and that the first bomb he constructed was likely placed in or around the neighborhood where he lived.

In fact, he lived with two roommate (who are not suspects, i.e., no accomplices, another thing I made clear last night) in Pflugerville (horrible name for a suburb, at least one despicable resident), only a few blocks from the Pflugerville mayor.   When I get a chance, I'll give you the distance from Pflugerville to the site of the first bombing, but it was easy walking distance, even for CDIV (UPDATE:  Under 5 miles - So a house-to-house in the neighborhood of the first package bomb would have been unproductive  but the proximity at least indicates without question Austin police have their man, err, half-man).  We will learn more very quickly about any FB posts or tweets, but he is likely a white nationalist (or this stretch will be made for him) and a college dropout.  He had planned this long in advance, because he knew he would be on camera at various drop-off locations, and had already purchased a disguise.  The FedEx mailing was a really stupid (brazen?) move, but this is what happens when you have initial success (dumb luck, as a society we love packages) and aren't all that gifted up top.   

A horrible tragedy, but notice how quickly he was identified after his "death by cop" (sort of, they were just doing their job, which is the point of death by cop) apprehension.  Less than 4 hours later.  Make a note of that, Estes Park police and Estes Park Trail-Gazette.  A real police force and a real newspaper gets the facts out to the public quickly.  We are now a month past a 6-year-old getting cartwheeled in broad daylight, right downtown, and we don't know whether to grieve or thank God, and have nary a name or even a license plate of whose car we should be avoiding, if they were local.

What a world - You take the good with the bad, and Austin residents can rest a lot easier tonight.  (Maybe with renewed energy, they can petition to have Pflugerville's name changed.)  Meanwhile, Estes Park, whose residents sleep soundly, likely have a false sense of security, as our elders continue to make decisions without our input, choosing the course they think is best for us.   

Settle down, penguins.  This is no time to celebrate.