A Swedish peacekeeping group has a tantalizing new way of preventing armed conflict between Russia and Sweden and it involves gay sailors.
CNET explains:
Last October, the Swedish government sent a squadron of troops and military equipment off their shore to hunt for what was suspected to be a Russian submarine lurking under their sovereign waters. A group called the The Swedish Peace and Arbitration Society (SPAS) is concerned that this will lead the Swedish government to beef up its military, and wants to inspire people to consider alternatives.
At the end of April, SPAS said, the group deployed a gizmo called "The Singing Sailor." It's a waterproof box holding an electroluminescent sign and a continuous wave transmitter. The sign shows a neon sailor shaking his very tight tighty-whities (which they call the white flag) back and forth, along with the message: "Welcome to Sweden, Gay Since 1944" printed in Russian and English. 1944 is the year in which Sweden decriminalized homosexuality. The box also sends out a Morse code message via sonar that says: "This way if you are gay."
RT adds:
SPAS says that the Singing Sailor is part of its contribution to an ongoing hot debate on shifting the country's “military resources into development and rethinking security.”
“The purpose of the Operation The Singing Sailor is to urge the Swedish government to think in new ways instead of falling back on territorial defense, conscription and rearmament – the world doesn't need more weapons,” SPAS said in the press release.
One of the world's oldest peace organization that prides itself with being associated with winning the Nobel Peace Prize, simply says that “in times of unrest, love and peace across boundaries is more important than ever.”
Watch a SPAS video of The Singing Sailor's deployment, AFTER THE JUMP…
