Smoke seen pouring from Russian consulate in San Francisco

[RandySF]

Acrid, black smoke has been seen pouring from a chimney at the Russian consulate in San Francisco a day after the Trump administration ordered its closure amid escalating tensions between the United States and Russia.

Firefighters who arrived at the scene were not allowed to enter the building Friday.

An Associated Press reporter heard people who came from inside the building tell firefighters that there was no problem and that consulate staff were burning unidentified items in a fireplace.

The consulate's workers are hurrying to shut one of Russia's oldest consulates in the U.S.

The deadline for the consulate to close is Saturday.


http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/smoke-pouring-russian-consulate-san-francisco-49572573

[HipChick]

1. Shredder not working fast enough..

[TheFrenchRazor]

37. don't laugh; PutinInc. has actually admitted to burning tons of incriminating docs in the past. nt

[Laffy Kat]

12. WTF? "The Japs"? nt

[Laffy Kat]

16. Too late. nt

[Tiggeroshii]

13. Usually cool to say the whole word

Thanks

-A Japanese person, not a Jap

[Tiggeroshii]

18. It's a historically racist term used to dehumanize us in

WW2. Hard not to take offense

Also when somebody is offended by a usage of a term, generally it isn't a best practice to keep repeating it

[Ken Burch]

20. Standing with you on that, as do most people here, I think.

(edited on the advice of a friend).

[Tiggeroshii]

27. Thank you

[Ken Burch]

29. Both posts from that person are gone now, and I suspect whoever that was...

...has been 'stoned.

Have a nice Friday.

[Weekend Warrior]

23. One of the great blessings of privilege.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jap

[Laffy Kat]

26. You should probably just leave now. nt

[marybourg]

28. It is offensive.

Always has been.

[fishwax]

14. .

[Ken Burch]

19. Are you posting from World War II?

Did you save up your ration cards to time-travel and buy that laptop?

I'd strongly suggest you go outside and weed your Victory Garden, or maybe volunteer for the scrap-metal drive.

[Weekend Warrior]

24. "I'd strongly suggest you go outside and weed your Victory Garden"

[Ken Burch]

31. "You're a great audience, I'll be here all week. Try the Swiss Steak..."

"...and be sure and tip your waitress".

[MineralMan]

3. Black smoke? No new Pope yet, I guess.

Watch for the white smoke. That's my advice.

[underpants]

6. No new Putin

You beat me to it

[Aviation Pro]

4. Black smoke is chemical in nature

Wonder what fuckstick's buddies are burning.

[SonofDonald]

32. Yup, that isn't paper being burned. N/T

[Cracklin Charlie]

33. Tapes?

Floppy discs, cd's...

Just speculatin'.

[BigmanPigman]

5. Holy shit! They are burning evidence! Why isn't this on the news?,

I will write to Rachel now.

[underpants]

11. It's pretty standard operation to burn things

In "Argo" the Canadian embassy threw the visa plates into a furnace.

[Weekend Warrior]

25. You can burn many things in your fireplace. nt.

[Igel]

35. That's an assumption.

Let's assume they were, true or not.

Since they're not destroying evidence on US soil there's nothing that US law enforcement. It's a consulate. That makes it Russian as far as sovereignty goes. Even firefighters on a purely humanitarian mission would require permission to go there.

Presumably all we can say is that there are things they're disposing of that they (a) don't want to take and (b) don't want to leave behind. That could be evidence about something related to Trump. Could be personal backups of the consular officials' porn.

[DBoon]

39. I vote for the porn backups!

Nt

[bluepen]

36. Lol!

[MontanaMama]

7. Probably a

covfefe accident. Uh oh.

[FakeNoose]

8. I think they found a body

But seriously has anybody seen Julian Assange lately?

[Egnever]

22. .

[madaboutharry]

9. If it wasn't so pathetic, it could almost make you laugh.

Sometimes this whole Russia affair seems like the Rocky and Bullwinkle show.

[denbot]

10. White smoke will mean Putin selected our next President.

Sigh..

[delisen]

34. Thanks-I needed to laugh.

[TheDebbieDee]

21. They're burning all the copies of the pee-pee tapes!

[Docreed2003]

30. Pee Pee on a campfire makes a truly acrid smell!

Seriously though, you HAVE to wonder what they're destroying. I'm sure it's all routine stuff, but, in light of the current events, it does make my tin-foil hat twitch a bit!

[roamer65]

38. Standard op. We burned a TON of documents and even cash in Saigon in 1975.

If you can't take it, you burn it.

[SoCalDem]

40. a new Pope? n/t

[davsand]

44. My thought too!

[johnsonsnap]

41. Trump destroying evidence again?

Or, trying to start a fire to murder people in SF? He hates them so much.

[Not Ruth]

42. Is that legal within city limits, can't they be fined for not recycling?

[Brother Buzz]

43. FWIW, it's a Spare the Air Day in the entire San Francisco Bay Area

[sarisataka]

45. Diplomatic immunity n/t