Show Notes
What would you do to protect your family when the system that's supposed to protect you is the one hunting you down? Poachers follows Kayiizi, a tracker from northern Uganda, whose father is killed by the very rangers sworn to protect the land they both loved.
What starts as grief becomes vengeance. Vengeance pulls him into a billion-dollar wildlife trafficking empire.
And survival means working for the man destroying everything he stands for, unless he can find another way out. It's a story about moral compromise, loyalty, and what it costs to do the right thing when the wrong thing is the only option keeping your family alive.
This table read brings two of those pivotal scenes to life, and the actors' reaction afterward says everything about why this script made the final three. Kinolime is an indie production studio where the community decides what gets made.
You read the scripts, you vote, and the winner gets produced into a real film with up to a $15M production budget, a real director and a real release. THE WAIF (2024) is shooting this year with BAFTA-nominated director Stephen Fingleton.
MOB MENTALITY (2025) just attached director William Groebe. The winner of this vote is next.
Full Transcript
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[♪ OUTRO MUSIC PLAYING [♪
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Hello and welcome to the 2026 KinoLime Script to screen competition.
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And we are going to be doing a table read of one of our top three scripts, poachers.
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Well first off, I'm going to read the log line, if's at the stage,
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when a Ugandan tracker's father is killed by frightened Rangers,
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his grief-fueled vengeance pulls him into a billion dollar wildlife tracking empire,
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where he must choose between violence and the testimony that could dismantle the entire network of corruption.
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Playing the role of Kaizee, we have Sharif Johnson,
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and playing the role of Juma, we have Rice Knight, so great that you're both here.
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Thank you for having us.
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Absolutely.
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Amazing.
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So let's do it.
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Kaizee's grief-fueled vengeance over the death of his father comes from him burning down the Ranger's station
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and essentially leading to the deaths of seven Rangers.
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So he is on the run.
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He is, you know, a fugitive here.
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And his pregnant wife is also on the run.
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And so at this point, he is kidnapped by Juma's men.
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Juma is a poacher, right?
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So he is in charge of this billion dollar empire, and Kaizee is a wildlife protector.
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He does not want to be involved in this in any way, shape or form,
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and so he's going to have to go against all of his morality and for loan to do this,
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to save himself, and of course, his pregnant wife.
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So yeah, big stakes.
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Let's dive in.
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Exterior Juma's camp knight, Kaizee sits alone by dying embers, the camp sleeps,
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the carved bird in his hands, he turns it over again.
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You're thinking about her.
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Heazie doesn't look up.
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Juma crosses into the fire light, sits across from him.
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Your wife, I'm thinking about a lot of things.
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My men are still searching.
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Kaiz mountain paths.
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I know.
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Juma picks up a stick, pokes the embers.
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You did well today.
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The briefing, the team respected you.
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They respect the men who tells them where the animals are.
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They respect competence.
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He sits down the stick.
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Tomorrow morning, come to my quarters.
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We need to discuss operational details, just you and me.
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What's kind of details?
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The kind I don't share in front of 20 men.
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He stands.
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Thor, don't be late.
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He walks into the darkness.
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Kaizee watches him go, his grip tightens on the carved bird.
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Interior Juma's private quarters day.
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Larger than personal effects, a cot, a desk, a metal cabinet
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against the back wall, secured with a heavy padlock.
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Juma sits at the desk, papers spread before him.
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Kaizee stands.
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The North team, you know the terrain.
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I need to know what you know.
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I've told you everything.
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You told me what you thought I needed.
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Now tell me what you're holding back.
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I'm not holding.
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Everyone holds back.
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It's natural.
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Self-preservation.
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He leans back.
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The herd at the river.
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200 animals.
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Where do they go when they panic?
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West into the valley.
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And if West is blocked.
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Kaizee has a taste.
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There's another route.
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Self through the gorge.
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You didn't mention it in the briefing.
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It's narrow.
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Hard to cover.
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Three teams.
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But they could escape that way.
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Some of them?
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Yes.
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You were protecting them.
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The elephants.
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I was giving you the best tactical option.
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You were doing both.
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A radio crackles on the desk.
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A voice urgent.
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Boss, checkpoint three.
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We have a problem.
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What kind of problem?
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UWF troll.
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Six vehicles headed towards sector seven.
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Hold position.
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I'm coming.
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Wait here.
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I'll be back in an hour.
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That was awesome.
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Oh, guys, great work.
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Great work.
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Thank you.
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Thank you.
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So how does that feel?
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Is there anything in the tax that kind of stood out for you
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as you were playing these roles?
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Oh, definitely.
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You can see he saw himself in Kaisei.
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And that's what he felt.
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He knew there was more.
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Because that's what he would do.
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If he was still on the right side.
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Because you can see the confliction.
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And he doesn't like what he's doing it to himself.
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And I loved reading for the part of Kaisei.
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Because me personally, I feel like even just being a guy
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from the East Coast, it's amazing how
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I can relate to the story and being the person who maybe
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have to do something you don't like to get something you do
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want.
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If that makes sense.
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Yeah.
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So I'm resonated with that a lot, just personally.
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Just all for like, OK, now I have to be
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in a guy from where I'm from.
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And having them maybe turned into,
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I love a quote Dave Chappelle said that is mother told them
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where he said, sometimes you've got to be a lion to be
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the lamb you really are.
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You know what I mean?
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So in this readiness, I feel like that's Kaisei character.
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He has to be a lion to be the sheep he really is,
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to protect his family.
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So that's kind of what I've gotten from the sides.
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Yeah.
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That point you made earlier about where Kaisei has a path out.
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I feel like Juma partially wants him to be,
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but deep down wants him to get away.
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Because he always hoped he would have got away.
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And that might be kind of helped by the small little bit
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of conscience that Juma has left.
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Sure.
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I feel like Juma's just not like, I'm going to,
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I need to figure like a star son of the lights.
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I'm like, I don't feel like he's going.
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I don't feel like he's completely lost his soul.
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Yeah, and I am.
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And that maybe what Kaisei, he sees that.
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And while he, he's got to do what he's got to do,
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Kaisei represents the last bit of anything in him.
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Humanity.
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Yeah.
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Fair much like Luke and Darth Vader.
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I didn't want to say that.
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Very bad.
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I don't know what they're going to say.
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They want to be.
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That's what this is.
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Yeah.
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I just want to thank Raeus and Shireen P.
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Thank you for this.
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Thank you, guys.
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Thank you.
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You really just brought so much life to you to this script
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that already had a lot of life in it.
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So for those at home, if you liked what you heard and you want
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to know where there's, there's son to Keenaline.com,
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you can read the screenplay.
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You can listen to the audio version of the screenplay.
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Or you can read the treatment.
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And you could also, you're looking at the table read now.
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Go vote if this is something that you want to see get made into a film.
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Every vote counts.
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100.
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You know, this is how we, this is how we do it here.
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So, poachers spoke to you.
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Please go to Keenaline.com, sign up.
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If you already have an account, log in, go to your competition page section and vote for
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poachers.
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Three scripts made it through.
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One gets produced into a real film and you decide which one.
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The way for shooting this year with Fathom Dominated Director Steven Fingleton, Mob and
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Talies in Development, the winner of this vote is next.
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Enjoy the community, read the script, or listen to the audio version and vote.
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Help the side with ends up on screen.
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The winning script gets up to $15 million production budget.
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So real film could be with a real director with a real release.
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The industry has always decided what gets made but we're changing that.
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Vote closes June 14th, winner it out June 15th.
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Go to Keenaline.com, sign up, read, vote, be part of the movement.
