AND ANOTHER THING …

We like Gov. Baldacci’s idea of soliciting suggestions from the public on how to solve Maine’s budget crisis, if for no other reason than the refreshing message it sends that state government can listen as well as lecture. Sorting through the hundreds, eventually thousands, of e-mails from the public on this crucial matter (go to www.state.me.us/governor/ and follow the “issues” link) won’t be easy, but – to paraphrase – the journey of a billion dollars begins with a single click.

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One of the more intriguing suggestions so far, from a citizen in Cumberland Center, recommends a reward system be set so that the person who comes up with a money-saving idea gets a small portion of the savings. We’d suggest that furthering the state’s fiscal welfare should be its own reward, but there’s just no profit in it.

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Maine, of course, is not alone in its budget crisis. All but a very few states are facing crushing deficits this year; lawmakers and tax officials from more than 30 of them (none from Maine, incidentally) are meeting this week in Tampa to lay the groundwork for changes in federal law that will allow states to tax Internet services as part of their budget balancing efforts. Two observations: If e-taxes are the future, we hope it does not include e-mails to the governor; if these computer-savvy lawmakers and tax officials are truly interested in conferring on how to balance the books, wouldn’t a chat room have been a lot cheaper than a high-season hotel in Tampa?

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States, of course, are not alone in their budget crises. Industries are folding daily and workers are getting laid off by the thousands. Despite the familiarity of failure, it is shocking to learn that the economic malaise has reached point where McDonalds just suffered its first-ever quarterly loss.

If factory workers have to take jobs flipping burgers, what will become of the burger flippers?

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Researchers at Texas A&M University are puzzled by the results of their successful cloning of a cat. The original, Rainbow, is a calico specimen with splotches of brown, tan and gold, reserved in temperament and chunky in physique. The clone, Cc (for carbon copy), is anything but: gray stripes, playful, sleek. For scientists, this surprising result energizes the old debate about nature vs. nurture. For the rest of us, it’s just cats being cats.