A fire broke out at a party at an artist's collective called "The Ghost Ship" last night in Oakland, California. At least nine and up to two dozen young people were burned to death.

The Ghost Ship was located in a converted warehouse--which is typical of what young artists do. They took the place over and subdivided it into their own little spaces. Jam-packed it with their stuff, all very flammable--look at all that. It's all very ad hoc. I have been in many artists' spaces that sound just as The Ghost Ship is described.

How could that have passed a fire inspection? It couldn't! I don't know this for fact but I will you bet you $1000 The Ghost Ship never was inspected. That's par, too. The space is abandoned, almost always in a derelict area of a city. Starving artists look at it, see cheap space, and occupy it. The city is too glad to have them and don't want to hassle them, and one artists' building can often lead to an enclave. Voila! You just got Cool.

Fucking tragedy. Fucking tragedy.