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cubby

Live Long and Prosper
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/live-updates-fire-at-notre-dame-cathedral-in-paris-173732973.html

A massive fire broke out at Notre Dame Cathedral in central Paris on Monday afternoon, sending flames shooting out of the roof of the iconic landmark.

Fire officials told Agence France-Press that the fire was potentially linked to the renovation of the building and is believed to have started in the attic.

There were no immediate reports of injuries.

“A terrible fire is underway at Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris,” Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo tweeted. “The @PompiersParis are trying to control the flames. We are mobilized on the spot in close connection with the @dioceseParis. I invite everyone to respect the security perimeter.”

French President Emmanuel Macron, who was set to deliver a speech on Monday night, postponed the address in light of the fire.

“Notre-Dame de Paris in flames,” Macron tweeted. “Emotion of a whole nation. Thought for all Catholics and for all French. Like all our compatriots, I am sad tonight to see this part of us burn.”
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Much celebration from a segment of Muslims



[...]France has been hit with a string of fires at Catholic churches, some of which occurred alongside desecration of sacred objects and acts of vandalism. While the fire at Notre Dame appears to be an accident connected to renovations of the church, the image of the famous spire engulfed in flames is a hard hit on the historically deeply Catholic France, as well as Catholics all over who have seen their religion reeling from devastating scandals, cover-ups and attacks.
While Notre Dame is undoubtedly the most well-known landmark to be affected, Paris’ second largest church, Saint-Sulpice, briefly burst into flames on March 17, the fire damaging doors and stained glass windows on the building's exterior. Police later reported that the incident had not been an accident.
[...]
 
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Tragic,

But I suggest people head to https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.Arabic/ and use the translate feature,

here's a small sample of the comments.

"We have all the best wishes for more fires, earthquakes, volcanoes, cholera, cellulose and.... etc "

"Beautiful Fire, it's a beautiful sight, I wish you every day to make us like this with beautiful news. Burned our Arab world create all of you say"

"Fun view, great bbq night my God hand it nfrḥwạ Punishment for the Eiffel Tower, God willing"

"Good news more like this news that snows the chest and comfort the heart "

"What a wonderful view the most beautiful scene in 2019"

" Beautiful scenery"

"Salute to the fire and wish him to move to the Eiffel Tower"

"One of the happiest moments I've ever lived to hold a bigger guard"

"May Allah make this country insecure and not stable"

Sure some things are lost in translation but I think we get the message. And sure, there are a few sympathetic messages of unity, but they are in the tiny minority. "Diversity is our strength" my ass...
 
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The stained glass. The beautiful stained glass.
:(:(:(
Some of the most beautiful in the world. Chances of being able to reproduce it are low. There are no longer artisans of that caliber. Can they replace it with more stained glass? Yes. Can they achieve the beauty and skill level of the original? I doubt it.

I would love to be wrong.
 
Some of the most beautiful in the world. Chances of being able to reproduce it are low. There are no longer artisans of that caliber. Can they replace it with more stained glass? Yes. Can they achieve the beauty and skill level of the original? I doubt it.

I would love to be wrong.

Pretty much everything that was destroyed can and will be recreated. But you are wrong about one thing. The level of skill and precision today in all of the disciplines used to build Notre Dame is far, far greater than anything than existed during it's construction. We could reproduce the cathedral to within 0.01 of a millimeter if we had CAD drawings of the entire thing.

Buildings of this period were far from precise, it's the imperfections that made this building the artwork that it was. Nothing about it was perfect, that's what made it special, that's why we can't restore it to it's original form. Not unless we have 10,000 laborers learn ancient construction techniques and have them rebuild the entire thing by hand. Yeah, we could do that, but it would take at least 100 years. It took 200 years the first time around.
 
Pretty much everything that was destroyed can and will be recreated. But you are wrong about one thing. The level of skill and precision today in all of the disciplines used to build Notre Dame is far, far greater than anything than existed during it's construction. We could reproduce the cathedral to within 0.01 of a millimeter if we had CAD drawings of the entire thing.

Buildings of this period were far from precise, it's the imperfections that made this building the artwork that it was. Nothing about it was perfect, that's what made it special, that's why we can't restore it to it's original form. Not unless we have 10,000 laborers learn ancient construction techniques and have them rebuild the entire thing by hand. Yeah, we could do that, but it would take at least 100 years. It took 200 years the first time around.
I agree with most of what you said, but not about the stained glass. Nobody is making stained glass at the level it was made back then because they can't. Nobody paints today as well as daVinci because they can't. That level of skill in those disciplines no longer exists.

I'm sure there will be stained glass windows in the rebuilt Notre Dame, I just don't think it will look like the original.
 
I agree with most of what you said, but not about the stained glass. Nobody is making stained glass at the level it was made back then because they can't. Nobody paints today as well as daVinci because they can't. That level of skill in those disciplines no longer exists.

I'm sure there will be stained glass windows in the rebuilt Notre Dame, I just don't think it will look like the original.

Yeah, you're correct. But the inkjet on your desk is a better painter than any human could hope to be. Like I said, we can easily reproduce what was lost, but the imperfections are what made it special and irreplaceable.

I could purchase custom colored glass, fire up CAD and have a CNC machine cut it out to absolute precision, and lead soldering isn't hard, what I produced would be technically better. But it wouldn't be a work of art.

That's what I meant, you can reproduce anything today. But a reproduction will always be just that.

I'm actually sad about this. This is like a watching the Library of Alexandria burn. A sad day in history indeed.

But some are celebrating. Just as some were in 48 BC.
 
I agree with most of what you said, but not about the stained glass. Nobody is making stained glass at the level it was made back then because they can't. Nobody paints today as well as daVinci because they can't. That level of skill in those disciplines no longer exists.

I'm sure there will be stained glass windows in the rebuilt Notre Dame, I just don't think it will look like the original.
It won't be the same. Im a stained glass artist and the glass colors are different. Techniques are different.
I'm sure it will be beautiful but different.
 
It won't be the same. Im a stained glass artist and the glass colors are different. Techniques are different.
I'm sure it will be beautiful but different.

The one, single, thing that I have ever liked about Macron, is that he said he would bring the very best that the world has to offer together. And together they will do something unprecedented in history. The very best of our intellect, knowledge and skill will unify to restore what has been destroyed. What will be accomplished in the wake of this disaster will be something that is incredible. The entire western world is mourning this loss and as always, in the face of unimaginable loss we will band together, offer our very best and work to put right what has been made wrong. The Nortre Dame cathedral is symbol to all western nations who share the values of justice, liberty, fairness and forgiveness. We have never been defeated and as we have done time and time again, from the ashes of this tragedy, we will raise triumph...We will not be defeated.
 
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Given that it was currently undergoing Renovations and work a great number of the treasured Antiquities were already off site. Also human chains were formed to save the artifacts that have been brought in for Easter. It will be rebuilt. This will be the beginning of a new chapter in the closing of a previous chapter in the long and storied history of Notre Dame. It was a beautiful structure and it will be again.
 
Given that it was currently undergoing Renovations and work a great number of the treasured Antiquities were already off site. Also human chains were formed to save the artifacts that have been brought in for Easter. It will be rebuilt. This will be the beginning of a new chapter in the closing of a previous chapter in the long and storied history of Notre Dame. It was a beautiful structure and it will be again.
I love human chains. Every time I hear of a human chain being formed, I get all goose bumpy and say way to go humans.
 
Update from ghosttruck.

While the organ was saved, a colony of 150,000 bees are feared dead. Their hives were installed in the roof of the cathedral back in 2013 as an urban conservation project. The hives did survive the fire but the fate of the bees is unknown at this time. There are three hives that housed 50,000 bees each. Maybe a few survived but I would imagine most of them perished. They were able to inspect the hives by drone.

The bees housed in the cathedral were the Brother Adam variety, a breed created about a 100 years ago by hybridisation of bee varieties which are resistant to diseases such as acariosis. Sounds like a good choice for their bee revitalization project.

https://www.thesun.ie/news/3997013/...urce=fark&utm_medium=website&utm_content=link
 
Bad news........

Notre Dame 'is being turned into a woke theme park': Cathedral is being revamped with a 'discovery trail' and 'Christianity for dummies' exhibits, claim critics​

Fire-ravaged Notre Dame cathedral is being turned into a 'woke theme park' with renovators adding a 'discovery trail' and 'Christianity for dummies' exhibits, critics have claimed.

Under new plans, confessional boxes, altars and classical sculptures will be scrapped for trendy art murals, with sound and lighting effects creating 'emotional spaces.'

A 'discovery trail' will lead visitors through various chapels, with an emphasis on Africa and Asia, and scripture will be beamed onto the walls in various languages, including Mandarin. One of the sanctuaries will even be dedicated to the environment.

Maurice Culot, an award-winning Paris-based architect, told The Telegraph: 'It's as if Disney were entering Notre-Dame.

'What they are proposing to do to Notre-Dame would never be done to Westminster Abbey or Saint Peter's in Rome. It's a kind of theme park and very childish and trivial given the grandeur of the place.'

Officials say that the symbol of France will be accessible to tourists with no understanding, 'whether from China or Sweden.'

But critics argue it debases the 850-year-old church and turns it into a 'politically correct Disneyland.'

One senior source close to the renovation told the Telegraph the plans risked turning Notre Dame into an 'experimental showroom' that would 'mutilate' the cathedral.

'Can you imagine the administration of the Holy See allowing something like this in the Sistine Chapel?,' said the senior source with access to the latest plans. 'It would be unimaginable. We are not in an empty space here.
 
I'd have to do research but it would seem that Notre Dame is not part of the property portfolio of the Catholic Church, but that of the city of Paris?? Otherwise there'd be some bishop or the the Pope calling the shots.

Ok I did find this on Wikipedia, the state owns it but the church retains all rights to practice religion there.

Ownership​

Until the French Revolution, Notre-Dame was the property of the archbishop of Paris and therefore the Roman Catholic Church. It was nationalized on 2 November 1789 and since then has been the property of the French state.[133] Under the Concordat of 1801, use of the cathedral was returned to the Church, but not ownership. Legislation from 1833 and 1838 clarified that cathedrals were maintained at the expense of the French government. This was reaffirmed in the 1905 law on the separation of Church and State, designating the Catholic Church as having the exclusive right to use it for religious purposes in perpetuity. Notre-Dame is one of seventy historic churches in France with this status. The archdiocese is responsible for paying the employees, for security, heating and cleaning, and for ensuring that the cathedral is open free to visitors. The archdiocese does not receive subsidies from the French state
 
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