The greatest thing about the Internet is the way it opens up new ways of thinking to a person's world and new exciting thinkers. In the early days of blogging Steven Den Beste was one of the most influential - to me - thinkers on the Internet.
Whether it was explaining why we are fighting in Iraq, riots in Paris, or heroism. Steven's logic was always almost flawless. When I learned of his passing I looked through my archives for essays of his but unfortunately the links to those articles and his old site, USS Clueless, no longer work.
I first learned of Steven's passing from Borepatch. With the passing of Den Beste - the Samurai Jack of the Interwebs - the world is a lesser place.
EDIT: Harvey kindly provided a link to Steven's archives