Authority on Nostradamus and prophetic traditions, John Hogue, discussed how September will be the most dramatic month of the year with seismic activity hitting not only nature, but the economy, politics, and the Middle East. He foresees seven different earthshaking events to occur, or get their start in September 2011: United Nations declares Palestine a sovereign state. The European bank crisis worsens. Recession in the US returns. Hurricane season peaks. Syria has a civil war. Israeli/Middle East war takes place. Earthquakes/tsunamis caused by Comet Elenin. The Arab-Israeli war could be a short but violent one, in which the Israelis knock out a group such as Hamas, and ironically this could then lead to peace talks, he said. More on the seven seismic events, here. Hogue talked about how there is no connection between Nostradamus' prophecies and those related to 2012. Nostradamus did single out the year 1999 as significant, and Hogue noted that it was around then that a gradual change of historic seasons began, as we switched from a Piscean to Aquarian age. Hogue said he stands by his prediction that Obama will be reelected in 2012. He also foresees the decade of the 2020s as the most upheaval-filled time in human history, when climate change, population stresses, and other factors reach a critical mass. Biography: John Hogue writes on the subjects of the occult, parapsychology, mysticism and prophecy. He is considered a world authority on Nostradamus and is the best-selling author of numerous books, including Nostradamus: The Complete Prophecies and Nostradamus: The New Millennium, The Millennium Book of Prophecy, The Last Pope, and Messiahs: The Visions and Prophecies for the Second Coming. His work has brought him international acclaim. He has been published in 18 languages and sold over one million copies worldwide. In addition, he has appeared on over 700 radio and television shows on three continents. Wikipedia A prediction (Latin præ-, "before," and dicere, "to say") or forecast is a statement about the way things will happen in the future, often but not always based on experience or knowledge. While there is much overlap between prediction and forecast, a prediction may be a statement that some outcome is expected, while a forecast is more specific, and may cover a range of possible outcomes. Although guaranteed information about the future is in many cases impossible, prediction is necessary to allow plans to be made about possible developments; Howard H. Stevenson writes that prediction in business "... is at least two things: Important and hard." Prediction is closely related to uncertainty. Reference class forecasting was developed to eliminate or reduce uncertainty in prediction Informal prediction from hypothesis Outside the rigorous context of science, prediction is often confused with informed guess or opinion. A prediction of this kind might be inductively valid if the predictor is a knowledgeable person in the field and is employing sound reasoning and accurate data. Large corporations invest heavily in this kind of activity to help focus attention on possible events, risks and business opportunities, using futurists. Such work brings together all available past and current data, as a basis to develop reasonable expectations about the future.