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The Kiss, The Fraternal Embrace, My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love
Political Art: Two recent paintings of Donald Trump kissing Boris Johnson and Donald Trump kissing Vladimir Putin were inspired by a painting depicting Soviet Leader Leonid Brezhnev kissing Erich Honecker, leader of the German Democratic Republic. The original painting, by Dmitri Vrubel was titled, "My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love" and is part of the East Side Gallery of paintings on the east side of the Berlin Wall. The Gallery was established in 1990. Vrubel based his painting on a photo of Brezhnev and Honecker in a "fraternal embrace" during a ceremony in 1979 honoring the 30th anniversary of the founding of the German Democratic Republic. About these photos: Leonid Brezhnev kissing Erich Honecker (top left), "My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love" painting (top right), Donald Trump kissing Boris Johnson painting (bottom left) and Donald Trump kissing Vladimir Putin (bottom right)   Photo credit: Adapted by WhoWhatWhy from Régis Bossu / Wikimedia, Joachim F. Thurn / Wikimedia, Duncan Hull / Flickr (CC BY 2.0), Rasagri / Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Aug 3

UN at a Loss Over Help for Migrants and Refugees, Trump’s Testy Nuke Finger, Iran’s Problem with the Nuclear Deal, and More Picks

UN at a Loss Over Help for Migrants and Refugees, Trump’s Testy Nuke Finger, Iran’s Problem with the Nuclear Deal, and More Picks

PICKS are stories from many sources, selected by our editors or recommended by our readers because they are important, surprising, troubling, enlightening, inspiring, or amusing. They appear on our site and in our daily newsletter. Please send suggested articles, videos, podcasts, etc. to picks@whowhatwhy.org.

Nestle to Build Bottling Plant in Drought-Stricken Phoenix (Reader Charles)

On the surface, providing water by any means to an area plagued with drought is a good thing. However, bottling the city’s water — then selling it to the citizens — means making a profit off of something that sustains life.

UN Document Shows the Headache Caused by the Migrant and Refugee Crisis (Dan)

When it comes to helping migrants and refugees, no one is happy.

Delaware Strikes Down the Death Penalty (Reader Samantha)

The court decided that since judges handed down the sentence, not juries, it was in violation of the Sixth amendment in the Constitution.

Iran’s Supreme Leader Sees Problems with Iran Deal (Dan)

Though the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei originally supported the deal, congressional roadblocks by US lawmakers have prevented foreign investment and thus angered the Iranians. Who knows, perhaps Iran – not Donald Trump – will “rip up the deal”.

Report States that Trump Asked Three Times Why US Can’t Use Nuclear Weapons (Reader Chris)

“if we have them, why can’t we use them?”, Trump asked repeatedly. There may be little basis for the report, but it does sound like a typical Trump moment.

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