*Note by Kaiser: I love Ariel Sharon’s “WTF” expression!

The stories just keep coming about the rumored downfall of diva Whitney Houston. Last week, we told you how Whitney’s tour is on hiatus, and before that, family and close friends are trying to put together an intervention to keep Whitney off the drugs as her comeback tour is hitting the skids. Now, witnesses say they saw Whitney partying with ex-husband Bobby Brown, and since then, Whitney’s been showing signs of her old crack habit: moodswings, excessive sweating, shortness of breath and disorientation. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: how does one tell if Whitney’s using? She always seems a little off to me, everytime I see her.

Is Whitney Houston back on crack? That’s the question friends and family are asking and fearing after the pop diva was hospitalized for a reported upper respiratory infection and canceled the first four European dats on her comeback tour.

Even more disturbing, the Grammy-winner’s free-fall has coincided with her renewed relationship with her troubled ex-husband Bobby Brown, sources say.

“Everyone is worried sick that Whitney is back on crack and abusing drugs again,” revealed a source close to the 46-year-old singer – who once famously said that crack is whack.

“She’s exhibiting telltale signs of an addict. One day she’s upbeat and even-keeled, and the next day she’s a mess – sweating, shaking, disoriented and mumbling incoherently. Just as troubling, she’s reconnected with Bobby, her longtime partner in crime.”

Whitney’s downward spiral began months ago when she appeared breathless, exhausted and disoriented during the Asian and Australian legs of her “Nothing But Love” tour.

The once-commanding entertainer struggled to hit high notes, sweated profusely and tripped over her own feet backstage in South Korea on Feb. 6.

Soon after, insiders say Whitney hooked up with Bobby – who has done multiple rehab stints after abusing heroin, cocaine, marijuana and alcohol. Although he lives with girlfriend Alicia Etheridge, Bobby partied with Whitney and a group of pals at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel in Beverly Hills on March 10.

“Whitney appeared to be feeling no pain. She was noisy and sweating, and yelling that she needed a drink,” said a source.

“I didn’t see any drugs, but she downed a cosmopolitan and Bobby had a beer. Bobby kept telling Whitney to be quiet but she wouldn’t shut up.”

The source added: “Whitney and Bobby smoked crack cocaine in the past, and she shows many of the signs of being back at it again.”

Questions about her drug use surfaced when, on the eve of kicking off the tour’s European leg, Whitney abruptly canceled her April 6 concert in Paris and entered a hospital there with an upper respiratory infection.

She also pulled the plug on April 8 and 9 concerts in England, plus an April 11 show in Scotland. She denied reports of drug abuse, claiming: “My health is terrific, but this is a time when I get a lot of allergies.”

After her hospital stay in Paris, Whitney hold up at London’s ritzy Dorchester hotel, and her team made sure the troubled singer looked like a million bucks when she walked out to her car.

Anxious to dispel rumors of drug use, her sister-in-law Pat Houston told The Enquirer: “Whitney is doing fine. Some people have said cruel things, but she’s happy just to have rested in the hotel.”

[From The National Enquirer print version, April 26, 2010]

So, which is it: an upper respiratory infection, or allergies? Because they are two different things. An upper respiratory infection is basically a common cold. It’s a virus, is contagious, and can cause sore throat, runny nose, and even laryngitis. Seasonal allergies are something altogether different. I think it’s a bunch of baloney, either way. It seems like Whitney has an excuse every time she doesn’t sing well, and this time is no different. And if she’s been partying with Bobby Brown again, that’s even worse news. I just hope those ticket holders from her canceled shows can get their money back!