crippled meerkat

[chiaowl]

Keeping it brief: 
no mic sound, won't send emails, unable to access computer janitor, package manager, or ubuntu software center - plus misc. other problems like not allowing email backups (which I think I need to do before I clumsily try to resolve this with my sub-kindergarten level of knowledge of linux).

E: Encountered a section with no Package: header
E: Problem with MergeList /var/lib/apt/lists/us.archive.ubuntu.com_ubuntu_dists_maverick_main_binary-i386_Packages
E: The package lists or status file could not be parsed or opened.
E: _cache->open() failed, please report.

This is what comes up at various times. Searching it doesn't help me. Tried to find something similar at ubuntu.com until my head started spinning. 

Anybody patient enough to help me figure out what all this means, and help me fix it? or point me somewhere that can help me please?

I try to figure most things out myself without bothering the list but this one is way far beyond my understanding :(.

sherry