In Norway, a man who murdered 77 people — who was sentenced to only 21 years — is seeking release after 10 years in prison.

You may remember Anders Behring Breivik, who hunted down children at a Labor Party summer camp. The sentence was 21 years because that was the maximum permitted, though the judge was able to add a provision for "preventive detention," based on his future danger to society. But, technically, he's eligible for parole, and he's taking advantage of this access back into the public eye.

WaPo reports that it is "unlikely that he will ever be released." His presentation to the court reflects an awareness of that: His lawyer says he's "not expected to show remorse," and he's having a "neo-Nazi leader" testifying for him. And if he sticks to his past courtroom behavior — as seen in his litigation over his prison conditions ("isolation in a three-room cell — equipped with video games, a DVD player, a typewriter, books, newspapers and exercise equipment") — he'll give a Nazi salute.

Waldkita — forest kindergarten — in Germany.

There are 1,500 of them in Germany.

Most have opened in the last 15 years and are usually located in the city’s parks, with a bare-bones structure serving as a sort of home base, but others... rely on public transportation to shuttle their charges daily out into the wilderness, where they spend most of the day, regardless of weather. Toys, typically disparaged at waldkitas, are replaced by the imaginative use of sticks, rocks and leaves. A 2003 Ph.D. dissertation by Peter Häfner at Heidelberg University showed that graduates of German forest kindergartens had a “clear advantage” over the graduates of regular kindergartens, performing better in cognitive and physical ability, as well as in creativity and social development.

The American journalist Richard Louv, who coined the term “nature-deficit disorder” in his 2005 book, “Last Child in the Woods,” is cited often by Robin Hood staff, as is “Coyote’s Guide to Connecting With Nature,” by Jon Young, Ellen Haas and Evan McGown. (“Savage Park,” by Amy Fusselman, is another book that chronicles uninhibited play and was inspired by a visit to an adventure playground in Tokyo.) The pedagogical philosophy of waldkitas, which privileges outdoor play and hands-on environmental learning, comes originally from Scandinavia, but, as one teacher put it to me, “they don’t make a big fuss about it like they do here.” The trend’s non-Teutonic origins are somewhat surprising: There might be nothing “more German” than a state-funded preschool based primarily in a forest....

I strongly support this approach to childhood education, but writing about it this morning — after the Ariana Grande concert, which was full of little girls — a sad thought occurred to me. Children who are outdoors never have to run for narrow exits and get crushed by larger people pressing toward the doorways. If you stay outside, it's easier to get away, and you'll be in the habit of moving with quick agility. And yet, the biggest terrorist attack that targeted children — that I can think of — took place in an outdoor setting — on a 26-acre, forested island.

Norwegian trial court finds that the conditions of confinement violate the rights of Anders Behring Breivik — who killed 77 persons in a politically-motivated rampage.

He's kept in a surprisingly lovely 3-room suite that has windows, a treadmill, a refrigerator, a TV, and a PlayStation. But he's alone there, and he argued that is torture. The judge agreed.

Mr. Breivik claimed that he had been on a “martyr operation” to stop a Muslim invasion of Europe.... He was sentenced to 21 years in prison, the maximum, though he could serve longer if he is deemed a threat to society....

[At trial, Breivik] complained about his microwave dinners and cold coffee. He gave a Nazi-style salute and said he had renounced his faith in Christ in favor of the Norse god Odin. He demanded the right to publish a political tract every third year, in print or online, and said he had written two books already, “The Breivik Diaries” and “The Nordic State,” but was not allowed to seek publication of them....

Cato Hemmingby, a scholar at the Norwegian Police University College who co-wrote a book on Mr. Breivik, said in an interview that it was “especially the lack of access to the Internet and the communication control” that had angered Mr. Breivik....

"I think it’s important that we give him this trial. It is a victory in itself for us, as a society, not for him."

"Even terrorists have human rights. We have to keep in mind, though, that even though he is just one man, he represents an idea that we need to combat."

Said Bjorn Ihler, a survivor of the Utoya massacre that killed 77 persons, mostly teenagers. The convicted terrorist, Anders Behring Breivik, who is serving a 21-year-sentence (with the prospect of longer detention if he is deemed at threat), is getting a trial on his complaint that the conditions of his solitary confinement are torture within the meaning of the European Convention on Human Rights. The conditions are described in the first paragraph of the NYT article as follows:

He lives in a three-room suite with windows, about 340 square feet, that includes a treadmill and other exercise equipment, a fridge, a DVD player, a Sony PlayStation and a desk with a typewriter. He has been taking distance-learning courses at his country’s main university. He has access to television, radio and newspapers. He prepares his own food, and he entered the Christmas gingerbread-house baking contest at his prison.

The last paragraph of the NYT article connects Breivik — who gave a Nazi salute in court — to present-day Norwegian politics:

Norwegian politics have shifted to the right since Mr. Breivik’s conviction. In 2013, a conservative-led alliance came into government, replacing a previous coalition of social democrats and environmentalists. The Progress Party, a right-wing party that opposes immigration and seeks to lower taxes, and of which Mr. Breivik was briefly a member, is part of the new governing coalition.

The mother of one of the child victims is quoted: "What I fear most today is that he gets a venue to spread his extreme-right message...." 

Anders Behring Breivik — who killed 77 and injured 242 others — is sentenced to 21 years max and maybe only 10 years.

He admitted the murders and claimed he was sane. The court — in Norway — found him. But the sentence — for all of that — is 10 to 21 years. Is Norway sane?

ADDED: It's Norway's "restorative" justice approach:

A comfortable cell, clean and relaxing environment, and nice daily activities such as cooking classes are all meant to prepare the criminal for potentially difficult or painful internal reformation. Incarceration, in this thinking, is the treatment for whatever social or psychological disease led them to transgress. The criminals are not primarily wrongdoers to be punished, but broken people to be fixed....

Despite the lighter sentences, restorative justice systems seem to reduce crime, reduce the cost of imprisoning criminals, and reduce recidivism....

"Norway is today more imbued with democracy and diversity than it was on July 22, 2011..."

Said Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg.

Democracy is "the most important weapon in the fight against violence," he added.

A suggestion for those of you who are tempted to devote time to understanding the psyche of the Aurora massacre madman.

Contemplate the psyche of someone you know and can speak to and relate to in your immediate life.

What if you had known James Eagen Holmes, and you could have interacted with him at a time when you were, in fact, preoccupied reading on-line articles about Anders Behring Breivik, or if you had known Anders Behring Breivik, and you might have spoken with him, reasoned with him, but you were distracted by some intriguing articles about Jared Loughner....

Are you really interested in psychology?

Prosecutors want Anders Behring Breivik — who killed 77 and injured 242 persons — to be found insane and given psychiatric treatment.

Breivik himself claims to be sane and wants his political philosophy taken seriously, but the government asks the court to find him insane.

Without a hint of regret, [one prosecutor] said, Breivik had told the court how he had reloaded his gun while victims sat waiting for him to kill them on the island of Utoeya.

Breivik could be seen smiling at times as he listened to the prosecutor.

"When the girl fell on top of her, she stayed under her dead body until the sound of shooting stopped."

Testified Invgrild Stensrud, who was shot by Anders Breivik in the Utoeya Island massacre.

ADDED: More detail here:

"I thought they (the attackers) were exchanging messages but realising he was alone, I think the scream was actually a battle cry," [Stensrud] testified....

"I tried to get to the door behind others and when they got shot, they fell on me. One laid across my chest," she told the trial, which will continue until mid-June. "That's when I got hit in the left thigh. Many were shot lying on the floor.... Next to me (a man) was coughing up blood"...

That person, Glenn Martin Waldenstroem, said Breivik appeared both joyous and angry. "His face looked distorted," said Waldenstroem, 20, who survived being shot in the face. "He looked angry and smiled simultaneously"....

Breivik has said he initially tried to call an end to his killing spree after leaving the cafe, picking up a victim's mobile and phoning police, only to be forced to leave a message.

He continued killing, shouting "you are going to die today, Marxists"....

"When I took the weapon in my hand, it was like 100 voices in my head saying 'don't do it, don't do it.'"

"I was walking with rifle in my hand, in a bag. I thought, it's now or never. That minute seemed to last for a year."

"Breivik finally shows real emotion..."

"... apparently moved to tears by his 12-minute Youtube film on the supposed 'Cultural Marxist' onslaught on Europe. This outlines the alleged threat to western civilisation, before hailing past heroes, including Vlad the Impaler. It was when he appeared that Breivik broke down."

At other times, watching video related to the Norway murders, Breivik sits "fiddling with his tie as he watches, a blank expression on his face."

"Conceding that a culturally diverse society raises knotty and complex social and political questions is one thing."

"It is quite another to state that a multicultural society is impossible, or that Islam is incompatible with democracy. Yet the blogosphere to which Mr. Breivik belonged took these views as a basic premise."

Anders Behring Breivik says "the rest of the world doesn’t understand his point of view, but in 60 years time, they’ll understand him."

"He believes that he is in a war and in a war you can do things like that... He has a view of reality that is very difficult to explain... I cannot describe him because he is not like anyone... This was an attack on the Labor Party.”

Says the Norwegian terrorist's lawyer.

But speaking of views of reality that are very difficult to explain, for murdering 86 human beings, Breivik faces a prison sentence of merely 21 years. According to the linked article, prosecutors are considering charging Breivik with "crimes against humanity," and that would push the maximum sentence up to a big 30 years.

Michelle Goldberg searches for a feminist theme in the Norwegian massacre.

Feminism is hard!

"He has said that he believed the actions were atrocious, but that in his head they were necessary."

"He wanted a change in society and, from his perspective, he needed to force through a revolution. He wished to attack society and the structure of society.”

Says the lawyer for Anders Behring Breivik, who murdered at least 93 persons in Norway last Friday.

The judge said Mr. Breivik had been charged under criminal law with “acts of terrorism,” including an attempt to “disturb or destroy the functions of society, such as the government” and to spread “serious fear” among the population.

Mr. Breivik was ordered to be held for the next eight weeks, the first four in solitary confinement. He told police what there were “two further cells in our organization,” reporters were told.

If a person acted alone but wanted to spread "serious fear," he'd have reason to say that there was an "organization" with various "cells."

In testimony, Mr. Heger said, Mr. Breivik had said he “believes that he needed to carry out these acts to save Norway” and western Europe from “cultural Marxism and Muslim domination.”...

The judge said Mr. Breivik had wished to “give a sharp signal” and inflict “the worst possible loss” on the Labor Party, accusing it of failing to prevent a “mass importing of Muslims” into Norway.

"Police said it took them an hour from when they were first alerted to stop the massacre..."

"An inadequate boat and a decision to await a special armed unit from Oslo, 45 km (28 miles) away, delayed the response."

"When so many people and equipment were put into it, the boat started to take on water, so that the motor stopped"...

Daily Kos blogger calls WaPo columnist "the journalistic equivalent of a 'fluffer'" and says "she has an uncontrollable crush on Paul Ryan."

Rubin's writings about the Norwegian massacre deserve criticism, but aren't liberals supposed to refrain from writing about women like this?

IN THE COMMENTS: Chip S. said:

From the Journolist Manual of Style:

"You're no lady" = horrible sexism.

"the journalistic equivalent of a fluffer" = incisive commentary.

(Link added.)

"One person with belief is equal to the force of 100,000 who have only interests."

The paraphrased John Stuart Mill quote that the Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik tweeted before his murderous rampage.

In 2009 he wrote about the need to set up a counter to what he described as "the violent Norwegian Marxist organisations" that he believed terrorised the "politically conservative"....

Things Breivik blogged:

The vast majority of new faces in the Progress party are now politically correct career politicians and not in any way idealists who are willing to take risks and work for idealistic goals....

In Norway and Sweden extreme Marxist attitudes have become acceptable/everyday while the old-established truths of patriotism and cultural conservatism today are branded as extremism....

I have on some occasions discussed with… the [English Defence League] and recommended them to use conscious strategies. The tactics of the EDL is to 'entice' an overreaction from jihad youth/extreme Marxists, something they have succeeded [in] several times already.

So, here is one man, apparently acting alone but believing perhaps that his action is the equivalent of 100,000. What he did was emphatically not an "idea" — as Mill had it. I'm speculating that he imagined his action embodied an idea: That others like him could act on their own to great effect, for his cause. Why amass armies or even terrorist groups, when individuals, understanding the idea, can take up their arms and set out on the day they feel called and take down 100 (or more) selected individuals who represent these "new faces in the Progress party"  (or whomever the enemy is supposed to be)?

This is a powerful idea. Will we not hear it again and again, as Breivik receives endless publicity and his politics and motivations are plumbed and analyzed? It is a viral idea, and the media are catching the virus right now. As we talk about Breivik, we need to think clearly about what we are doing and whether we are promoting his cause.

By the way, the John Stuart Mill quote, unparaphrased, is: "One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests." It's from "Representative Government," which you can read in its entirety here. Here's the quote in context:

To think that because those who wield the power in society wield in the end that of government, therefore it is of no use to attempt to influence the constitution of the government by acting on opinion, is to forget that opinion is itself one of the greatest active social forces. One person with a belief is a social power equal to ninety-nine who have only interests. They who can succeed in creating a general persuasion that a certain form of government, or social fact of any kind, deserves to be preferred, have made nearly the most important step which can possibly be taken towards ranging the powers of society on its side. On the day when the proto-martyr was stoned to death at Jerusalem, while he who was to be the Apostle of the Gentiles stood by "consenting unto his death," would any one have supposed that the party of that stoned man were then and there the strongest power in society?

The Biblical reference is to the martyrdom of St. Stephen, and the Apostle of the Gentiles is Paul, then Saul, consenting to the stoning.