It seems for the past 2  years there has been a great continuity of surprise within the SilkRoad community that we have been around this long and as an older member known through various pseudonyms across time, it is also of great joy to be a spectator in the evolution of this great marketplace and on this, my 1000th post I wish to make my thoughts clear with all who I may be honoured to share them with. It is also remarkable what has come of the community, being a non-user of drugs myself I originally expected to be an outcast of such a community, a person who just wasnt part of the heart and soul of the group but now many months and years gone, I feel a great deal of mutual respect amongst many members here and have been honoured to meet the many great minds amongst us, too numerous to fully list, but I am sure upon placing such a notion in your mind you can furnish your own long list of great friends and heroes here.I further wish to express my many orders of gratitude to those who have, with a complete sense of selflessness, sought to further the enlightenment of us all bringing a vast array of skills, ideologies and opinions to a grand table of free exchange in a place where no man, woman or child need be afraid of voicing their thoughts at liberty. Over the years we have seen the world around us crumble as the rights of the individual are eroded away by the indoctrinated dogmatists within our governments across the world and I personally believe that, even though taking drugs can be detrimental, that the freedom as found on SilkRoad can prosper healthy discussion and lead to a safer world because it is apparent, whether you agree or disagree with drugs, that it is the ignorant abuse of drugs that are damaging and not simply the drug itself. Again to name all contributions in the field would be a task too long for one man to complete in a lifetime, but as a specific example I would wish to sing praises to DoctorX who is one of the many medical doctors who come by these forums but who has taken a public stand to support those with questions and offering a full and open service expecting no payment in return when I am sure he could easily just sit home and enjoy his evenings in peace; you sir are part of the great advance in this world and I have no doubt in my mind that your efforts are greatly appreciated by many.As a non-user and a person who up until my late teenage years was under the indoctrination of the state believing all drugs are going to kill you and leave you as a hopeless addict, I find that the privilege of being here is amazing in itself and I think the greatest discovery of all time for me is realising that to change our future, all one must do is change their attitude and whilst we may not be able the choose the cards life will hand to us, we can choose how we play those cards.For all those reading my humble words, I want you to reflect on what we have faced so far, what DPR faces, what the staff, vendors and buyers face all the time whos adversary is out there constantly prowling our walls and breathing down our necks. We have faced adversity, we have had difficult times in the past and we will have challenges in the future, but this is not the end of our persecution and our fight and so we must fight our enemy with the most powerful weapon which has echoed across times and peoples  that is the power of words. No matter how many men die, are thrown in jail, are persecuted or are silenced, nobody can take away the ideas which bring us together to stand against those enemies and when they break down the fortress doors we still stand together unfazed and ready to protect our beliefs no matter how large or cunning our enemy is. In the words of Peter Marshall, when we long for life without difficulties, remind us that oaks grow strong in contrary winds and diamonds are made under pressure.Today we have learned of the loss of another great hidden service, although not confirmed just yet, it appears that the founder of Freedom Hosting has been arrested and I imagine that with such a service which ran for so long having its security penetrated is a matter we at SilkRoad must also be concerned about and so we must face up to the challenges we now have. I have no information right now which can point to the technical vulnerability of SilkRoad, that is for the technical boffins to discuss and implement, but I feel we all still have a role in the matter and to bring to the centre stage any arising matters or new information we may find as often it is the users of this forum who are the eyes and ears of the community. Rarely does DPR or other staff stumble upon discoveries themselves without the tip-off or referral from other users and I think the credible threats to SR have been greatly reduced thanks to the vigilant actions of our community.What we must now do is keep looking, remain vigilant in all aspects and ensure community cohesion to continue our current trend of growth and security. We have taken many problems such as the recent DDOS attacks by the horns and wrestled it to the ground. Where once the community was slammed by the media, a new age is upon us where it gives me great pleasure indeed to see the stubbornness of a nonconformist community warmly acclaimed.So long as we keep fighting, the heart and soul of this community will never perish and I hope that in many years, people will look back and remember us. Remember those people who done something different, who stood up for their beliefs and despite having enemies glaring them in the face, they were steadfast. Whatever the future may hold for us all, it has been a pleasure to stand beside you all in this new age and I hope that as we face tomorrow, every challenge given to us is just another hurdle we will overcome because whilst our enemies may continue their agenda of imprisoning innocent people for simply expressing their freedom, they will never be able to silence the idea those people stand for and that we all still stand for  together, as one.~StExo