Tuesday Open Thread | The Fire At Notre Dame Cathedral 😢😢😢

Posted on April 16, 2019 by rikyrah

I was 15 when my parents told me what my 16th Birthday Present was going to be:

A trip to Paris.
Paris…
My father, who had fought in Europe during WWII, would never talk about his war experiences, except for his time in France. He loved everything about the country, and wanted me to have the opportunity to go.
It would be my first time outside of the country. First time to get a passport. First time to be on my own (I was going with a school group). I was so excited.
America is a young country. When compared to the rest of the world, our hundred, two hundred year old relics are nothing compared to other countries.
You got that immediately when you arrived in Paris.

Somehow, it mixes the old and the new. The modern with the ancient. But, above all else, the history is respected.
As I watched the fire engulfing Notre Dame, I sat there, with the rest of the world, my heart breaking with every news report. Notre Dame wasn’t just a church. It was history.

Living, breathing history. It’s beauty was inescapable, whether coming upon it by foot, or by boatride down the Seine.
Walking in it, was to be awed. It was a church, but, it was so much more. It was massive. It was impressive. It was awe inspiring, and humbling. You could spend a whole day inside, just being respectful and taking in all of the history that it had offer. The architecture made your mouth fall open. The beauty of the stained glass….the place was made for pictures. The clicks were what you heard inside of the church. It was always full of tourists, yet, it wasn’t noisy.
The thing about Notre Dame wasn’t just that you were there…but, you knew that you would return, and bring others with you.
I had already been planning Peanut’s first time to Paris…and, of course, Notre Dame would be on the list. There are things that sustain us. That we believe will always be there. The continuity is something that calms the nerves. Soothes the soul.
I am not Catholic, but, felt completely welcome there…as I am sure that many others of different faiths have been as well. It was a house of worship, but, it was a cultural symbol of Paris. Of history that touched on religion, but not only religion.

 

Construction of the cathedral officially started in 1163, and wasn’t finished for almost 200 years. As I recall, it was a site of worship long before that — every time repairs have been done in the lower levels, prehistoric artifacts are unearthed. It’s a terrible loss, to France and the world, but the cathedral will be rebuilt again.

Why Notre Dame matters, in one Victor Hugo passage

https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/4/15/18311758/notre-dame-fire-victor-hugo-hunchback

https://twitter.com/kazweida/status/1117861328121524224

Translated from French by Microsoft
Good news: all the works of art were saved. The treasure of the Cathedral is intact, the Crown of thorns, the Holy sacraments. #NOTRE_DAME

https://twitter.com/NKingofDC/status/1117852826355453953

https://twitter.com/nadabakos/status/1117860682756689925

Notre Dame is one of the world’s great treasures, and we’re thinking of the people of France in your time of grief. It’s in our nature to mourn when we see history lost – but it’s also in our nature to rebuild for tomorrow, as strong as we can. pic.twitter.com/SpMEvv1BzB— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) April 15, 2019

https://twitter.com/patrickgaley/status/1117848909877895171

Another poster:

I think for many folks Notre Dame is also a symbol, in addition to being a building and a house of worship. One, for its place in French History and secondly as a living museum of classical Western Civilization (if there is such a thing) for the artistry of the building itself and those items that were stored (and now supposedly saved) within.

https://twitter.com/NewsBreaking/status/1117881569425809410

Hannah Groch-Begley @grouchybagels
I know this doesn’t help, but we have exquisite 3D laser maps of every detail of Notre Dame, thanks to the incredible work of @Vassar art historian Andrew Tallon. Prof Tallon passed away last November, but his work will be absolutely crucial

 https://twitter.com/CNN/status/1117911268331933698

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76 Responses to Tuesday Open Thread | The Fire At Notre Dame Cathedral 😢😢😢

  6. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 5:58 pm

    José (@josecanyousee) Tweeted:
    A tale of two red state mayors:

    Julian Castro:

    ✔️ Former mayor of a city with a population of 1.5 million
    ✔️ HUD Secretary
    ✔️ Harvard graduate

    Pete Buttigieg:

    ✔️ Mayor of a city with a population of 102k
    ✔️ Vet
    ✔️ Harvard graduate

    Yet, media is focused on one dude. Why. https://twitter.com/josecanyousee/status/1118198415186247680?s=17

    Reply
  7. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 5:50 pm

    Trust Black women (@TrustBlackwome2) Tweeted:
    Some white folks are calling me “racist” bc I say I wont vote for no white men in 2020.

    Chile, I am a Black woman.
    Racism is a white people’s disease.

    I AM STILL NOT VOTING FOR YOUR WHITE MALE SAVIOR!
    Bye Felicia!
    #NoWhiteMen2020 https://twitter.com/TrustBlackwome2/status/1118166210032668672?s=17

    Reply
  10. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 3:34 pm

    ‘It’s a girl!’ Hoda Kotb, 54, reveals she has adopted a second daughter, Hope Catherine – as she tearfully admits she thought she had already ‘gotten everything in life that she deserved’

    The Today co-anchor shared the happy news on Tuesday morning, calling into the show in order to surprise her co-workers on air
    Hope Catherine was born over the weekend, and it is thought that Hoda went to get her either on Sunday or Monday
    Hoda, who adopted her daughter Haley Joy in February 2017, recently opened up about the possibility of adding another child to her family
    ‘We don’t know when, but it is something that is important to me and to Joel,’ she said of raising another child with her partner Joel Schiffman
    When speaking to her colleagues about the adoption, Hoda said that she felt as though her heart ‘grew ten times’ when she held Hope for the first time
    Hoda was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was 42 years old and came out of treatment unable to conceive
    She has previously said that she believed for a long time motherhood just wasn’t in the cards for her
    By CHARLIE LANKSTON FOR DAILYMAIL.COM

    PUBLISHED: 08:41 EDT, 16 April 2019 | UPDATED: 14:45 EDT, 16 April 2019

    Reply
  11. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 3:30 pm

    some hopeful news about yesterday’s fire at Notre-Dame: there is photographic evidence from today’s post-fire assessment that shows that the Rose Windows are still in place!

    They will almost certainly need repairs and conservation work, but they’re there:

    https://www.curbed.com/2019/4/16/18400170/notre-dame-fire-cathedral-paris-france

    Reply
  12. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 3:04 pm

    Wendy Williams’ estranged husband Kevin Hunter is FIRED from her show and has been given 48 hours to clear out from their marital home – while the $215K Ferrari he bought for his baby mama is towed away

    Kevin Hunter was fired as executive producer on Wendy Williams’ show after she served her philandering husband divorce papers last week
    The 47-year-old was also fired as Wendy’s manager and he was given 48 hours to remove his belongings from their New Jersey home, a source told DailyMail.com
    The TV show host decided she had enough after Hunter’s baby mama Sharina Hudson was photographed by DailyMail.com driving around a brand new Ferrari
    Hunter and Hudson had been living the high life at a hideaway in New Jersey, going for dinner dates, dressing in designer gear and driving flashy new cars
    ‘Wendy saw the photos of him and Sharina on the Daily Mail… she was furious. That’s what tipped her over the edge, she was like, he’s gotta go’, a source said
    Hunter publicly apologized in vain on Tuesday, admitting he was not ‘proud of his recent actions’ and was ‘trying to right some wrongs’
    Hunter’s statement came as the $215,000-plus gold Ferrari Portofino he gifted Hudson was seen being towed away – a day after he was hit with the papers
    Wendy was seen apartment hunting in NYC on Tuesday as she revealed Monday she was moving out of her sober living home and was ready to start a new life

    By RYAN PARRY WEST COAST EDITOR FOR DAILYMAIL.COM and CHEYENNE ROUNDTREE FOR DAILYMAIL.COM
    PUBLISHED: 13:53 EDT, 16 April 2019 | UPDATED: 15:29 EDT, 16 April 2019

    Reply
  13. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 2:49 pm

    The Hill (@thehill) Tweeted:
    Pete Buttigieg: “The conditions that made this presidency possible are a lot bigger than one man. They are a sense of deep disruption in our economy, our society, our politics.” https://t.co/IPjqRgEow2 https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1118227810722746371?s=17

    Reply
  14. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 16, 2019 at 2:32 pm

    @Rikyrah @ametia

    I got a message from Inez 🏈 TakeAKnee 4Justice in my Twitter inbox. I told her I’d pass this on to you. @RIKYRAH- studio on Wells Street.

    Just a note to say I appreciate your commentary… I host a program each Thursday on WVON in Chicago ‘The LATE Shift’. We talk to over 200,000 listeners and in addition to our iheart radio platform. I am looking for knowledgable political correspondents to discuss possible collab on politics and race feature.

    Plz let me know if you are interested. Thx🙂

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 2:20 pm

    Was reading around and found this discussion about the fire.

    For people who want a small beam of light to poke through the clouds, it looks as though much of the interior of Notre Dame has survived the fire (with some smoke damage) thanks to the hard work and dedication of Paris’ fire crews. Pictures here:

    https://www.curbed.com/2019/4/15/18311697/notre-dame-cathedral-fire-paris

    ………..

    @different-church-lady: The ceiling of the main area is a stone vault separating the attic where all the burning timber was and all the stuff in the cathedral. I didn’t even consider it would be able to stand up when the roof collapsed but it did, except for one hole. As a result, there wasn’t much fire in the cathedral proper – only that one area under the hole and cathedral interiors are relatively resistant to spreading fire by virtue of all the exposed stone.

    Reply
  16. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 1:35 pm

    Lynn V (@lynnv378) Tweeted:
    They are all literally trying to silence the base of the Democratic Party to coronate a pasty old botoxed white man so that the pasty old burnt orange skin white man in the WH gets to stay where he is. That is what is happening. https://twitter.com/lynnv378/status/1118158302553284613?s=17

    Reply
  21. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 16, 2019 at 12:09 pm

    Look at this y’all. This is pure madness. The nasty sob won’t go away.

    https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1118197295214923776

    Reply
  23. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 11:54 am

    Turns out the “Friends of Notre-Dame de Paris” already exists, as they were supporting the renovation. Here’s a news article with some donation info.
    https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2019/04/15/donate-rebuild-notre-dame-cathedral-paris/

    there’s a link there which takes you to the website on which this (French) donation page appears:
    http://www.notredamedeparis.fr…..-francais/

    The website is for a French foundation with donations in Euro. I’m not sure how you donate $$ to them, although the SF news article says there’s a (US) 501c3 associated. In the past I’ve had problems sending money from a US bank to a European recipient.

    I do see that the donation form has “Etats-Unis” (US) as a pulldown option for donor’s country.

    Reply
  24. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 11:42 am

    Uh huh 😒🤨🤨

    The Hill (@thehill) Tweeted:
    JUST IN: Buttigieg, Fox News in talks for town hall https://t.co/fzZ6SmQgy3 https://t.co/gwOdynZDXS https://twitter.com/thehill/status/1118172706011271168?s=17

    Reply
  25. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 16, 2019 at 11:36 am

    Speaker Pelosi y’all are going to have to stop this thug. He’s sending straight up dog whistles to his racist base. This is a feeding. It’s time to act before @IlhanMN is harmed.

    https://twitter.com/farhanakhera/status/1118168531617624065

    Reply
  31. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 10:35 am

    A brave chaplain and a human chain saved holy relics from Notre Dame
    CBSNews

    Paris’s Deputy Mayor for Tourism and Sports, Jean-Francois Martins told “CBS This Morning” on Tuesday that he and others on the scene jumped into action to salvage the trove of art and artifacts housed in Notre Dame Cathedral as a devastating fire engulfed the ancient building the previous evening.

    “We made a human chain, with our friends from the church… to get, as quick as possible, to get all the relics,” he said, noting that the Crown of Thorns believed to have been worn by Jesus Christ on the cross was among the items rescued.

    “Thanks to the great bravery of all our firefighters, and as well all the public servants there, we had a very quick intervention. Very quickly a team was fully dedicated to save all these holy pieces, and specifically the relics and the crown,” Martins said. “Everything is safe and undamaged, and in our really bad day, we had one good news.”
    ………………………

    French Culture Minister Franck Riester told reporters in Paris on Tuesday that all the art and artifacts rescued from the cathedral would be transferred to another Parisian landmark, the Louvre Museum, for safe keeping.

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 10:15 am

    This has got to be a joke.

    @TheRickWilson
    Follow Follow @TheRickWilson
    More
    Great job, Alabama!
    Kid-curious Roy Moore (R-Pedophile Junction, AL) is currently the leading candidate in the GOP Primary.

    Reply
  36. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 9:55 am

    Warren’s newest proposal includes:

    1. Exec order to stop “drilling offshore and on public lands”
    2. Restoring protections to monuments targeted by Trump
    3. Recruiting 10K people to “jumpstart a 21st Century Civilian Conservation Corps”
    4. And this: Free entry to national parks

    — maxwell (@maxwellstrachan) April 15, 2019

    Reply
  38. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 9:49 am

    Trump hires new legal team to fight release of tax returns
    Rachel Maddow reports that even as Donald Trump has hired new lawyers to fight to keep Trump’s tax returns away from public view, subpoenas to financial institutions from Congress, looking into Donald Trump’s finances are multiplying faster than Trump’s lawyers can’t issue threats.

    Reply
  39. SouthernGirl2 says:
    April 16, 2019 at 9:49 am

    I talked to daughter this morning. She said Carson was watching cartoons and trying to sing along…
    😍😍😍😍😍

    Reply
  42. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 9:39 am

    Cristina Maza (@CrisLeeMaza) Tweeted:
    From yesterday, Mitch McConnell advocated for Oleg Deripaska’s company Rusal to be removed from the sanctions list. Now it is investing $200 million to build a new aluminum plant in McConnell’s state of Kentucky https://t.co/hpkJhiDSjk https://twitter.com/CrisLeeMaza/status/1118124269530226688?s=17

    Reply
  43. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 9:35 am

    Josh Marshall (@joshtpm) Tweeted:
    Dems Raise $75M Across Many Campaigns, Signaling Lengthy Fight Ahead https://t.co/JJaknCtXPD via @TPM https://twitter.com/joshtpm/status/1118124744237252614?s=17

    Reply
  45. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 9:14 am

    Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) Tweeted:
    I poured extensive research into this article. Could not imagine a better time to publish it.

    “Barr’s Playbook: He Misled Congress When Omitting Parts of a Justice Department Memo in 1989”

    https://t.co/cc6SHLxxet https://twitter.com/rgoodlaw/status/1117775920822149120?s=17

    Reply
  49. Ametia says:
    April 16, 2019 at 8:55 am

    Word of the Day : April 16, 2019

    Shanghai: verb shang-HYE

    Definition
    1 a : to put aboard a ship by force often with the help of liquor or a drug

    b : to put by force or threat of force into or as if into a place of detention

    2 : to put by trickery into an undesirable position

    Reply
  50. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 8:53 am

    Since we can’t depend upon the MSM to do it, folks are out there, analyzing Bernie’s tax crap

    ……………..

    VoteForWomen ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@AnnAnnChe) Tweeted:
    Bernie’s taxes are fucked up. Some examples:

    2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013= All were edited/revised in the box that asks for your self employment income to determine additional taxes owed 😬😬

    2014, 2011, 2009= Not full returns, and almost all years are missing attachments https://twitter.com/AnnAnnChe/status/1117965417752829952?s=17

    VoteForWomen ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@AnnAnnChe) Tweeted:
    Bernie’s taxes are fucked up. CONT

    2013: Jane’s “small antique business” had $3,832 in gross sales, but a net profit of -$938 bc she wrote off a bunch of meals (no taxes owed on negative income)

    2012: $5,300 rental income but negative -$25,256 in rental expenses? 😬 Yikes!

    VoteForWomen ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@AnnAnnChe) Tweeted:
    The deductions and write offs in general are pretty ridiculous. Bernie has written off $8,000 a year in meals on a few returns

    Mysterious farm income was not only revised in 5 different returns, but required boxes were left blank or whited out

    Charity deductions but no deets

    VoteForWomen ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@AnnAnnChe) Tweeted:
    I’m going through my old self employment taxes, and I don’t have any with different fonts 🤷🏼‍♀️

    And I have a 0 in Net Farm Profit. Bernie has a income there.

    Some Bernie people swear its standard or Turbo Tax default but idk my taxes def don’t look like this. His look bonkers.

    VoteForWomen ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@AnnAnnChe) Tweeted:
    The sketchiest part feels like the deductions.

    When you have a W2 job, your income and taxes are straight forward.

    But they always have self employment income/unnamed gift contributions, etc. where they can create tons of deductions to offset how much they owe in taxes.

    VoteForWomen ✊🏻✊🏼✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 (@AnnAnnChe) Tweeted:
    They have so many deductions it plummets them in super low tax brackets- like 15% making over 200K?!

    It honestly feels like they create side jobs/investments for opportunities to create deductions. And yeah I think they just make up a lot of deductions to get out of taxes.

    …………..
    Kim Wexler’s Ponytail (@MadisonKittay) Tweeted:
    @AnnAnnChe @AnikoSz1 Transparency: Harris 2018 return is 100+ pages, Klobuchar is 80 pages, O’Rourke 2017 is 70 pages.

    Sanders 2018 is 18 pages.

    Something stinks here. https://twitter.com/MadisonKittay/status/1118006643277668352?s=17

    Reply
  51. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 8:26 am

    Ninjette, The Real (@NinjetteTheReal) Tweeted:
    @RepYvetteClarke @realDonaldTrump William Barr has an interesting history of actions with discriminatory purposes of removing non-white immigrants, such as he sent Haitian refugees to Gitmo.
    Let me say that again: William Barr sent victims seeking asylum to Guantanamo Bay. https://t.co/2ssr8SCuGS https://t.co/rRqfPCxzji https://twitter.com/NinjetteTheReal/status/1117912433014652928?s=17

    Reply
  52. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 8:00 am

    Mother Jones (@MotherJones) Tweeted:
    Facebook has become a place where companies can market fancy houses to white people and junk food to black children, where hate speech is amplified and the right to vote is suppressed. https://t.co/RB8KciSrSJ https://twitter.com/MotherJones/status/1118124358520721410?s=17

    Reply
  53. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 7:56 am

    b-boy bouiebaisse (@jbouie) Tweeted:
    “[I]f Omar is a target, it has little to do with what she said and everything to do with who she is: A black Muslim woman — and an immigrant — whose very person disrupts the exclusionary ideal of a white Christian America.” https://t.co/q07Vb4l3vA https://twitter.com/jbouie/status/1118126333345837056?s=17

    Reply
  54. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 7:38 am

    Hit piece on Neera

    Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) Tweeted:
    This is bizarre. Interviewing someone’s mother??! Weirdly ignores part about CAP central role in ACA. https://t.co/VridtZVaxA https://twitter.com/JRubinBlogger/status/1118126363167342592?s=17

    Reply
  58. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 6:23 am

    Tina Vasquez (@TheTinaVasquez) Tweeted:
    Why do white liberals love Pete Buttigieg but not Julián Castro? Why are white journalists framing Pete Buttigieg as a solid contender for the nomination, while framing Julián Castro as out of the realm of possibility? These questions answer themselves, obviously. https://twitter.com/TheTinaVasquez/status/1117807502089949184?s=17

    Reply
  59. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 6:22 am

    i wasnt made to fall in line (@JesseRikart) Tweeted:
    Kamala Harris’ tax returns were 500+ pages.

    Can anyone explain why Bernie’s taxes are missing so many pages and supplemental information to explain his deductions and income? https://twitter.com/JesseRikart/status/1117981309996023808?s=17

    Reply
  62. rikyrah says:
    April 16, 2019 at 2:07 am

    Good Morning, Everyone😢😢😢

    Reply
    • Ametia says:
      April 16, 2019 at 8:52 am

      Good Morning, Rikyrah. Great post. I have photos I took when Hubby & visited the Notre Dame Cathedral in 2014. Have to dig them up.

      Reply
    • SouthernGirl2 says:
      April 16, 2019 at 8:59 am

      Good morning, Rikyrah and everyone!

      Beautiful post.

      Reply
    • Liza says:
      April 16, 2019 at 10:39 am

      Good morning, Rikyrah and Everyone,

      What a great post about the Notre Dame Cathedral. Yesterday was a sad day, to be sure. It is unthinkable that we could lose something of such historical importance and then it happens.

      Reply

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