  The structure of an effective light-cone Hamiltonian as recently derived is
analyzed with emphasis on its prediction for flavor mixing in physical mesons.
In a (perhaps over-simplified) model with one adjustable parameter, the
empirical masses of all 25 pseudo-scalar mesons which are possible for 5
flavors are reproduced (almost) quantitatively. These results are coupled with
explicit numerical estimates of flavor mixing. In the present approach, the
well-known mass degeneracy of the pion triplet is caused by the mass degeneracy
of the up and down quark.
