Fighting a lost cause sharpens one's opinions.

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But in his public life, Kennedy was the kind of politician who seems absent from modern politics, one who was loyal to an ideological outlook -- an ethos, as Sobchak would say -- and who devoted his career toward fighting for that cause.

CNN: Commentary: Ted Kennedy was a true believer

Thus, splinter groups are emerging every day and fighting for the same cause.

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While Mend and other militant groups say they were fighting for a political cause, criminal gangs have taken advantage of the region's instability to make money from ransoms paid by oil companies, and by stealing oil.

BBC: Nigerial oil militant Henry Okah

Fighting between the clans has been a cause of the country's breakdown.

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Fighting poverty should be a non-partisan issue and a bipartisan cause.

NPR: Evangelical Leader Discusses Candidates

In our primitive minds, attributing the cause of our own harm to the ill will of our fellows gives us a fighting chance to control our future by punishing wrongdoers.

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Two in three of the girls aged 11 to 21 (69%) believed education was the top freedom worth fighting for, as opposed to the right to vote - picked by only 9% as a cause.

BBC: Marriage no longer a key goal for girls, survey suggests

Germ-fighting fixes include inclining patients' beds, disinfecting their mouths and using drugs to prevent ulcers that could cause stomach bacteria to infiltrate the lungs.

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