ver here at Weekly Wire we revel in arguing the burning questions of the day. This week's disputes have been vicious, leaving our staff disheveled and in some cases, emotionally wounded. Raging issues included the following:

(1) Did the CIA help introduce crack into black ghettos during the '80s?

(2) Are Southern whiskey stills still a great source of tasty liquor?

(3) Is a feeling of dissatisfaction inevitable in any relationship?

(4) Do prairie dogs talk using complex sentences?

(5) Can campaign finance reform be effectively implemented?

(6) Did the recent national conference on racism only make matters worse?

(7) How will life change for those living in the new Hong Kong?

(8) Is there hope for abused children relocated by child protection agencies?

(9) Are raining toads a message from God?

(10) Has the celebration in Roswell, New Mexico succeeded in scaring off any future visiting aliens?

es, I know that's a lot to cover, but you'd be surprised how much time we spend around the water cooler (which has toppled repeatedly). Now we've got something new and strange to argue over:

(11) Is it just a coincidence that each of this week's News & Opinion articles answers the previous ten questions?

ithout fail, each piece this week applies directly to the subject of one of our above spats. Unbelievable. It's amost as if I made this all up, but I swear on a stack of Celestine Prophecy's, everything about my story is absolutely, 100 percent true. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got to break up another fight -- over who has to replace the demolished water cooler.

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Our online BBS is an open forum where you can say anything you like about current events, controversies, or anything else that might be stuck in your craw.

The Truth Hurts
Why did the San Jose Mercury News recant reporter Gary Webb's story detailing the CIA's link to drug trafficking? [2]
Nick Budnick

On Assignment
Mainstream has a history of gullibility when it comes to reporting on the CIA. [3]
Kathryn Olmsted

Thin Line
Media criticism. [4]
Christopher Johnson

Still Life
Mike Gibson sniffs out local moonshiners in East Tennessee and learns the ins and outs of their trade, as well as the history of 'shine in the state. [5]
Mike Gibson

Letters at 3AM
Life is about patterns -- living within them and breaking them. [6]
Michael Ventura

Look Who's Talking
Scientist Con Slobodchikoff says the prairie dog is one mouthy little bugger. [7]
Leo Banks

The Insider
Campaign Finance Reform. [8]
Jack Moczinski

Desperately Seeking the News
The daily newspapers miss the point reporting on the Fisk Race Relations Institute's "Conversation on Race" events. [9]
Henry Walker

Adapting Hong Kong
A letter from a resident of Hong Kong reveals that adapting to the new government is an exercise in practicality. [10]
Katharine Biele

Mean Streets
How dangerous are the mentally-ill street people? [11]
John Harrington

Odds & Ends
Around the news in seven days. [12]
Devin D. O'Leary

Brave New World
Web sites to help you cool off from the summer heat. [13]
David O. Dabney

Alien Inva$ion
The 50th anniversary of a crashed UFO brings -- what else? -- tourist money to a podunk town in New Mexico. [14]
Phil Jacobsen

Now What?
A Web link page chock full of resources, recommendations, and staff picks pertaining to the subject of this section. [15]

Brave New World
Ticketmaster and Microsoft squabble about the right to link. [06-20-97]
David O. Dabney

Weird Science
From the ultra-close scrutiny of the female breast to racking micro-meteorites on the dark side of the moon, the amusing mind of physicist Peter Franken is always on the move. [06-20-97]
Mari Wadsworth