8 ms·

Steven DenBeste, writer of USS Clueless, has died

34 points by cagey 10y ago

edem 10y ago
What happened to him exactly?
- teh_klev 10y ago
  Second sentence in the post: "I did not inquire as to specifics, but Steven had been in very poor health of late, having had a stroke just under four years ago." Not sure we really need specifics.
  - edem 10y ago
    I somehow missed that line, thanks!
erbo 10y ago
Back when Steven first stopped writing USS Clueless, I was concerned that the content would go away. He sent me, at my request, an archive of the site, which I hosted at Electric Minds for a time. That archive is now available on my site [0]. He was a great influence on everyone who read him, including me. He will be sorely missed. [0] https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/ https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/
gadders 10y ago
That's a shame. I remember I started reading USS Clueless around the time of the second Iraq invasion. He's probably too "neocon" for current tastes, but a great writer with an interesting take on current events.
erikb 10y ago
Would be nice if the title would suggest what he did. He was an important blogger in the early days? What did he write about?
- pjc50 10y ago
  Very prominent and hugely prolific blogger, back in the Cambrian explosion of 2000-2001. If you wanted to read several thousand word blog posts on why it was right - no, a moral obligation - for the US to go to war with Iraq, several times a day, he was one of the people to follow in your RSS reader. He also posted on pop-sci and engineering topics. Eventually he wearied of the controversy of war and retreated to blogging about anime. Actually, the blog hosting this obituary is quite similar to and probably inspired by DenBeste.
  - hga 10y ago
    It was our moral obligation to go to war with Saddam, ask for an outline of details as I and as I recall Steve saw them if you want, but the moral case starts with "you broke it, you fix it" ... and come to think of it we followed the same pattern with Vietnam, except for our unprovoked breaking of that country vs. our responding to Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. And that war was very successful and improved things in general, if for no other reasons than removing Saddam from power and blowing open the Khan nuclear production network (for which we rewarded Qaddafi with death...). It was also our moral obligation to properly handle the aftermath, after we'd finished completely breaking the country, and that's where the horrible failures started, with e.g. the appointment of the clueless proconsul Paul Bremer (although killing zillions of jihadists on ground of our choosing was one good result).
  - erikb 10y ago
    I didn't believe that I would understand an argumentation in favour of the Iraq wars, but I actually did. Thanks for letting me know. I still don't agree with all he has said, but he gives good points to improve everybody's point of view.
- emmelaich 10y ago
  What @pjc50 said. Here's a best of Den Beste: https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/bestof.htm https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/bestof.htm Very thoughtful, well written, prolific. Here's one of his posts referencing one of my favourites, on alternate energy: http://chizumatic.mee.nu/ghosts_of_my_past http://chizumatic.mee.nu/ghosts_of_my_past
notacoward 10y ago
I remember SDB from the old days. He was smart and passionate and a good writer. Many of his posts provided good starting points for many of my own - usually in vociferous and even caustic disagreement, but even an enemy can be missed. If there is an afterlife, I hope he has found happiness there.

34 points by cagey 10y ago

edem 10y ago

What happened to him exactly?

teh_klev 10y ago
Second sentence in the post: "I did not inquire as to specifics, but Steven had been in very poor health of late, having had a stroke just under four years ago." Not sure we really need specifics.
- edem 10y ago
  I somehow missed that line, thanks!

erbo 10y ago

Back when Steven first stopped writing USS Clueless, I was concerned that the content would go away. He sent me, at my request, an archive of the site, which I hosted at Electric Minds for a time. That archive is now available on my site [0]. He was a great influence on everyone who read him, including me. He will be sorely missed. [0] https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/ https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/

gadders 10y ago

That's a shame. I remember I started reading USS Clueless around the time of the second Iraq invasion. He's probably too "neocon" for current tastes, but a great writer with an interesting take on current events.

erikb 10y ago

Would be nice if the title would suggest what he did. He was an important blogger in the early days? What did he write about?

pjc50 10y ago
Very prominent and hugely prolific blogger, back in the Cambrian explosion of 2000-2001. If you wanted to read several thousand word blog posts on why it was right - no, a moral obligation - for the US to go to war with Iraq, several times a day, he was one of the people to follow in your RSS reader. He also posted on pop-sci and engineering topics. Eventually he wearied of the controversy of war and retreated to blogging about anime. Actually, the blog hosting this obituary is quite similar to and probably inspired by DenBeste.
- hga 10y ago
  It was our moral obligation to go to war with Saddam, ask for an outline of details as I and as I recall Steve saw them if you want, but the moral case starts with "you broke it, you fix it" ... and come to think of it we followed the same pattern with Vietnam, except for our unprovoked breaking of that country vs. our responding to Saddam's invasion of Kuwait. And that war was very successful and improved things in general, if for no other reasons than removing Saddam from power and blowing open the Khan nuclear production network (for which we rewarded Qaddafi with death...). It was also our moral obligation to properly handle the aftermath, after we'd finished completely breaking the country, and that's where the horrible failures started, with e.g. the appointment of the clueless proconsul Paul Bremer (although killing zillions of jihadists on ground of our choosing was one good result).
- erikb 10y ago
  I didn't believe that I would understand an argumentation in favour of the Iraq wars, but I actually did. Thanks for letting me know. I still don't agree with all he has said, but he gives good points to improve everybody's point of view.
emmelaich 10y ago
What @pjc50 said. Here's a best of Den Beste: https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/bestof.htm https://erbosoft.com/ussclueless/bestof.htm Very thoughtful, well written, prolific. Here's one of his posts referencing one of my favourites, on alternate energy: http://chizumatic.mee.nu/ghosts_of_my_past http://chizumatic.mee.nu/ghosts_of_my_past

notacoward 10y ago

I remember SDB from the old days. He was smart and passionate and a good writer. Many of his posts provided good starting points for many of my own - usually in vociferous and even caustic disagreement, but even an enemy can be missed. If there is an afterlife, I hope he has found happiness there.