<![CDATA[Make believe you're 12 years old again.]]>Make believe you're 12 years old again. Mean kids, edgelords, drama mavens, etc

Some people never grow out of it. For some it's a cringe social identity as, an, uh, "adult"

Luckily, the leaders of entire countries are more mature, right? Right?

It's not like powerful people act like grade school dipshits going full whiny insecure brat, right?

"‘We were never friends’: plays down loss of ally following ’s election defeat"

😂

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‘We were never friends’: Kremlin plays down loss of ally following Orbán’s election defeat

Loss of closest European ally will force Kremlin to consider whether non-autocratic states can ever be reliable partners

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the Guardian (www.theguardian.com)

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/topic/8d4e916f-6274-42de-9dda-f0a72a36bca2/make-believe-you-re-12-years-old-again.RSS for NodeFri, 15 May 2026 05:11:03 GMTWed, 15 Apr 2026 13:19:05 GMT60<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:24:02 GMT]]>@riley @iamlayer8 @ics 😆

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116411062170682371https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116411062170682371Wed, 15 Apr 2026 22:24:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:17:05 GMT]]>@benroyce Where do you suppose ringworms came from?

@iamlayer8 @ics

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410798956628985https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410798956628985Wed, 15 Apr 2026 21:17:05 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:50:15 GMT]]>@benroyce @ics
Thanks for the correction - I’ll be always happy to learn

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/iamlayer8/statuses/116410221577036884https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/iamlayer8/statuses/116410221577036884Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:50:15 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:50:01 GMT]]>@iamlayer8 @ics @riley

a ringwraith, after the fall of sauron

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410220611462421https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410220611462421Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:50:01 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:41:27 GMT]]>@benroyce @ics
Reading this comment out of context, I take offense. How can anyone call Schröder useful?!?

But yes, he was useful to Putin for a while.

@riley

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/iamlayer8/statuses/116410186924663234https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/iamlayer8/statuses/116410186924663234Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:41:27 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:35:16 GMT]]>@FrancoisPrague @ics @riley

Audi man!

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410162647033517https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410162647033517Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:35:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:31:54 GMT]]>@benroyce @ics @riley

with less divorces though: Viktor has to catch-up.
I can picture Orban as a Transneft advisor, especially for the Druzhba pipeline.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/FrancoisPrague/statuses/116410149371796724https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/FrancoisPrague/statuses/116410149371796724Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:31:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:31:48 GMT]]>@benroyce If, say, AfD should suddenly need a "squeaky clean" political donation at some point, now, because of how the ties of dirty money work, Schröder might find himself being forced to enthusiastically donate it. It's not like he has any intent to accidentally drown in his bathtub while Darth Turnip's goons look on, is it? (See item 2 above of what Darth Turnip might consider unforgivable betrayal.)

@ics

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410149029872326https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410149029872326Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:31:48 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:27:02 GMT]]>@riley @ics

yup. dark money, quiet influence

on the upside:

https://www.dw.com/en/german-ex-chancellor-gerhard-schr%C3%B6der-experiencing-burnout/a-71501286

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410130297731473https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410130297731473Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:27:02 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:25:34 GMT]]>@benroyce Schröder has no longer political power. But he's a sillionaire, and he got this way largely due to Gazprom's largesse.

@ics

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410124495612540https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410124495612540Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:25:34 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:21:57 GMT]]>@ics Zhdanoka is an example of a loudmouth whom Darth Pumpkin appears to have helped to get into the Europarliament, for an example.

@benroyce

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410110249706313https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410110249706313Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:21:57 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:21:16 GMT]]>@riley @ics

valid points

i would reply that the average german has a sneering smoldering disgust for schroder, who has little power

while the average hungarian has full throated white hot fury for orban, who does still have power

so six of one, half a dozen of the other

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410107570963948https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410107570963948Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:21:16 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:16:45 GMT]]>@benroyce As a parliamentary minority faction's leader, he'll be able to promote Kremlin's talking points in ways that Schröder can't.

Hell, he might even end up like Farage — as a MEP. The next Europarliament election is likely earlier than the next Hungarian general election. (Hungary might have a snap election before the scheduled time; I'm not sure whether that's even legal for the Europarliament. In any case, wouldn't happen without something like Brussels or Strasbourg suddenly developing a giant ghostly mushroom problem, at which point the rules for electing MEPs are not nearly at the top of the List of Important Problems.) @ics

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410089824941179https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410089824941179Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:16:45 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:14:38 GMT]]>@benroyce @riley

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116410081521916327https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116410081521916327Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:14:38 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:12:29 GMT]]>@ics FWIW, Darth Turnip has been more loyal to his henchmen than Darth Pumpkin. His primary criterion for rolling out the old window (or the drowning bathtub) appears to be, the victim either spoke publicly about his dark deeds, or refused to spend money for the Turnipate's benefit. (He probably conceptualises both of these as forms of "betrayal" and/or "treason".)

So, at a point where Orbán turns out to genuinely no longer be more useful anymore, he'll probably be allowed to retire somewhere, mostly out of the public eye, in relative wealth. In case there will be considerable risk of Hungarian authorities catching up to specific crimes that he could be prosecuted for, he'll probably even get political asylum granted by Russia or Belarus.

@benroyce

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410073074163305https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410073074163305Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:12:29 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:12:19 GMT]]>@ics @riley

orban is a gerhard schroder now

not very useful, but still vaguely useful, but obviously highly flawed

doomed to exist on the periphery as a scarcely tolerated embarrassment

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410072410914560https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116410072410914560Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:12:19 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:01:54 GMT]]>@riley @benroyce We'll see. I wouldn't be surprised to read, a few months down the road, that Orban had an unfortunate accident and fell out of a window.. First Floor. On his Head. And broke all his bones, had a heart attack, and then was bitten by a poisonous snake.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116410031446883434https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116410031446883434Wed, 15 Apr 2026 18:01:54 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:58:22 GMT]]>@ics Remember how many fellow people you had to recruit into the Party in order to get an official certificate that you had never been a Party Member?

Orbán must have done some particular favours to earn a statement from Kremlin that might be useful to his future political career.

@benroyce

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410017523088696https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410017523088696Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:58:22 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:56:25 GMT]]>@riley @benroyce Nah, that was the old USSR-Kremlin, the current Kremlin is already moving its focus to Czechia and Slovakia, as the Prime Ministers there are the new Useful Idiots. Putin's Russia has no time to waste on a Loser, same as Trump, who also has no time to waste on a Loser.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116410009893829633https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116410009893829633Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:56:25 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:53:56 GMT]]>@ics If he was unimportant, Kremlin would praise him highly. That Kremlin sees the need to not-praise him like this shows, Kremlin still believes it can use him.

@benroyce

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410000135700810https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://toot.cat/users/riley/statuses/116410000135700810Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:53:56 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:44:55 GMT]]>@benroyce Trump already said things like "I think Magyar will do a good job, I think he is a good man."

Even Trump has already dropped Orban...

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116409964674819641https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116409964674819641Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:44:55 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:39:40 GMT]]>@ics @benroyce See: Trump, Donald.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/BruceMirken/statuses/116409944029911248https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mas.to/users/BruceMirken/statuses/116409944029911248Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:39:40 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:39:39 GMT]]>@ics

there is no honor among thieves

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116409943948748830https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://mastodon.social/users/benroyce/statuses/116409943948748830Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:39:39 GMT<![CDATA[Reply to Make believe you're 12 years old again. on Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:36:16 GMT]]>@benroyce Also, Orban is learning how unimportant he actually is and how fast all the people who he thought were his friends, including Trump, are dropping him.

]]>https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116409930676716171https://board.circlewithadot.net/post/https://tau-ceti.space/users/ics/statuses/116409930676716171Wed, 15 Apr 2026 17:36:16 GMT