I don't know if this will help, but after reading this thread, I decided to update my cups, and
here's the output:

*
* /usr/lib/cups exists - You need to remerge every ebuild that
* installed into /usr/lib/cups and /etc/cups, qfile is in portage-utils:
* # FEATURES=-collision-protect emerge -va1 $(qfile -qC /usr/lib/cups /etc/cups | sed "s:net-print/cups$::")
*
* FEATURES=-collision-protect is needed to overwrite the compatibility
* symlinks installed by this package, it wont be needed on later merges.
* You should also run revdep-rebuild
* GNU info directory index is up-to-date.
galileo ~ # FEATURES=-collision-protect emerge -va1 $(qfile -qC /usr/lib/cups /etc/cups | sed "s:net-print/cups$::")

These are the packages that would be merged, in order:

Calculating dependencies... done!
[ebuild     U ] net-print/foomatic-db-engine-3.0.20070508 [3.0.20060720] 323 kB
[ebuild   R   ] app-text/ghostscript-esp-8.15.4  USE="X cups gtk* threads xml -cjk -djvu" 0 kB

Total: 2 packages (1 upgrade, 1 reinstall), Size of downloads: 323 kB

Maybe remerging these packages will help you out.

Chris -- Q: How many neocons does it take to change a lightbulb? A: None. Neocons don't believe in light bulbs, they declare war on evil and set the house on fire.