Opinion

Q: We recently adopted a white kitty-cat from our neighbor’s back yard. She’s about 4 years old and she has two different colored eyes (her left eye is blue and the right one is green). How often do cats have different eyes? Is this rare? Do they have any problems with their vision?

The June 5 primary ballot is a simple affair. It should take just a few minutes to mark my choices on my absentee ballot. But I’m stuck on one vote: Proposition 29, which would levy a $1 per pack tax on cigarettes to fund cancer research.

OK, gotta set the scene, get a mood going; see, it’s one of those TV commercials to which we are subjected approximately every 10 minutes day and night intended for men of a certain age and condition to make us – I mean, them, not me, no sir – believe (1) that there is something, ummm, missing in our, I mean their, lives and (2) how truly miraculous it is that there is a handy pill which will, ummm, bring it all back. So … Barry White music in the background, a homey scene bursting with potential romance, a handsome guy with a slightly loopy smile, and action! – which means a soothing voiceover.

Cheers to 1989 Live Oak High School grad Jill Sudduth Smith, who last Saturday was enshrined in the International Swimming Hall of Fame in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. She won a gold medal in synchronized swimming team event at the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta, Ga.

The American public mostly seems to take our freedom of religion for granted. Although this nation was founded by pilgrims from England seeking religious liberty, the colonial Puritans soon turned to persecuting other colonists who disagreed with their beliefs (going so far as to outlaw the celebration of Christmas). Over time, our government has usually attempted to remain neutral in religious affairs, though Muslims may say that increased scrutiny of their community since 9/11 has had a chilling effect on their ability to freely practice Islam.

The historian Thomas F. Madden described the United States as “an empire of trust,” a phrase he fashioned to compare modern America with the golden era of the ancient Roman Republic. According to Madden, both the American and the Roman republics grew into sovereign powerhouses because external threats stimulated the drive to expand their boundaries of geopolitical influence by means of superior military might, used to transform enemies into allies.