Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris is on Fire!

[MineralMan]

It's burning bad, right under the steeple, with the entire roof ablaze. MSNBC is in live coverage!

[LakeArenal]

1. Arson ? Or don't know yet?

[MineralMan]

4. No idea.

[Eyeball_Kid]

5. I'd speculate that the probably of arson exceeds 80%.

And that if/when the arsonist(s) are arrested, s/he (or they) will be found to be affiliated with Steve Bannon's white (supremacy) nationalist movement.

[LakeArenal]

6. I guess we will see.

[Mariana]

10. I don't think the fire investigators

are able to examine the scene just yet.

[OregonBlue]

2. That's horrible. It really is a treasure.

[Eyeball_Kid]

3. Just a few days ago,

Steve Bannon, the wonder who advocates the "dismantling of the administrative state", is now challenging the Catholic Church's moral and institutional authority. I would speculate that setting the cathedral on fire dovetails nicely with Bannon's wet dreams.

[safeinOhio]

7. I heard there is construction

going on at the time.

[The Genealogist]

8. As a lover of history, I am horrified

One of the greatest cities in the world's history has lost an iconic symbol. Shocking, and I am sad for the people who live there.

[NeoGreen]

9. No words for the lost icon...

It was/is a beautiful work of art of which I had the good fortune to visit in 1983.

[Pope George Ringo II]

11. Whatever else it is, it's beautiful and iconic.

That building has been a monument to the genius of some and the labor of many, and we are poorer for every bit of damage it suffers.

[edhopper]

12. It is so much more than a place of worship

it is a symbol of a great city. It is a beacon of the ingenuity and achievement of Mankind.

It is a sad day.