And another thing …

Mainers are accustomed to state revenue forecasts that change faster than the January weather, but the latest turnabout is a true meteorologic phenomenon: Last Monday, Gov. King released his supplemental budget, including plans for spending $70 million in capital-gains taxes; less than 24 hours later, his revenue forecasters say there won’t be any $70 million. While the governor’s already amended his budget, the debate in Maine now is whether forecasters should change their methods — the most popular suggestions to date are tea leaves and tarot cards.

Maine may not be the brightest star in the fiscal firmament, but it did make the front page page of Tuesday’s Wall Street Journal. Flanked by some fluff about health insurance, Chechnya and the Federal Reserve was an important centerpiece story about Monhegan Island and the escalating conflict between those who practice the longstanding local tradition of building tiny fairy houses of twigs and moss in the Cathedral Woods and those who contend the increasingly elaborate dinky domiciles are damaging the ecology. The Journal reporter, alas, was unable to interview any Monhegan fairies — they were all in Augusta helping with the revenue forecasts.

Rep. Tom Allen caused quite a ruckus a few months ago comparing the high prices of prescription drugs for humans with much cheaper yet identical compounds for pets. Pharmaceutical companies hit back, claiming the Maine congressman didn’t understand their need to recoup research costs. With the announcement this week of the latest and biggest in a series of subsequent mergers in the industry — the Glaxo Wellcome/SmithKline mega-deal — industry experts say the reduced competition will lead to even higher prices and perhaps the demise of the generic alternative. What do dogs take for upset stomach?

Down Phippsburg way, a group of history buffs is attempting to build a replica of the Virginia, believed to be the first ship built in Maine. The buffs do have one small problem in duplicating the 1607 vessel — other than a very rough sketch by an anonymous and singularly untalented artist, they haven’t the foggiest notion of what it looked like. We suggest something in wood, with a long pole sort of gizmo and some king of sheet-looking thing hanging from it. Happy to help.

Bravo to Rep. Albion Goodwin of Pembroke for seeking an investigation into why his home turf of Washington County, along with the rest of northern Maine, pays so much more for gasoline than the southern region. Certainly, transport costs are a factor, but the differential of 20 cents or more is only justified if John D. Rockefeller himself is hauling it up here, one five-gallon can at a time.