2010 Predictions

[Egidijus Zeromskis]

Re: 2010 Predictions

Another possibility would be to strew this site with poor English and family pictures; the n call it fine 'art'. Then take over the OCA with a rogue website, and claim it as one's own...OCA website http://www.kris-egis.com/oca/2010/01...e-holiday-open

Thank you for your opinion. Would you like to become an editor "for next to nothing"? or create the whole design "for next to nothing"? Or should I just click "Busted" on this project?

[David McTavish]

Re: 2010 Predictions

Thank you for your opinion. Would you like to become an editor "for next to nothing"? or create the whole design "for next to nothing"? Or should I just click "Busted" on this project?

How about you spend some time with your family. In order to provide you must be financially productive. This would not be the case here. You would also seem to spend little time actually playing or studying chess. Thus, if you derive no pleasure from the immediate game, then we need to ask what your objectives here are, spending thousands of hours rebuking in broken English.

[David McTavish]

Re: 2010 Predictions

I take that back Egis, go ahead. Why not, Looks like a good website. What the hell, it's more than Mallon has done in years.PGN viewer, place for compartmentalized Ontario districts, comments, a new place for 'displaced' players like Pacey,etal. to talk about their deflated ratings,etc. dunno if i'd attach my fam's jpgs nearby, though.IP safety and all. And maybe not tow the cfc redline so much.if another outsider wishes to vent intelligently, let him or her do so. even if he/she is not an elected. Those who, for example Mallon, want the'power' , can defend themselves. Trying to ingratiate yourself just makes you look like a plug. Initiatives like this, though bold, do not. Keep pluggin' , now i go look at actual chess...:)

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: 2010 Predictions

The EOCA has its own organizers for local tournaments, and runs a Grand Prix (the format copied by England some years ago for their stronger events), whereas the OCA appears nothing more than a shell for providing provincial chess beaucracy, until such time as OCA services are improved and OCA revenue independent of CFC memberships are secured. Fine, we can wait for that, but I say again, I wouldn't blame any number of leagues for going it alone after years without anything really positive from the OCA.

Some tidbits:

The famous 'Grand Prix Attack' in the Sicilian was named after the British Grand Prix. Legendary, now retired, EOCA organizers Doug Burgess and Terry Fleming intoduced the concept of a chess Grand Prix initially, which besides spreading to Britain was adopted in Toronto later on as well. Nowadays the EOCA Grand Prix offers trophies as prizes, rather than cash, but also now no entry fee money will now go towards Grand Prix prizes.

Back in the late 1980's I was drawn into the world of chess governance for a year or two. Even in the CFC's halcyon days it could have a hard time finding volunteers to be CFC Governors. I had moved from Ottawa to Brampton (near Toronto) in 1976. One Toronto organizer, who was also OCA President, asked me to volunteer. "What do I have to do as a CFC Governor"? The answer was "Are you breathing"? I would later be a CFC Governor in the mid-2000s for a couple of years, and I thought that not much had changed.

Later I voluteered to be OCA Vice-President as well. Aside from his eventually recovering a few hundred dollars from a reluctant previous administration, I recall also that the OCA President ran a couple of futurity events in the Scarborough area, i.e. a tournament with some juniors pitted against some masters. I was one of the masters. We also revamped the OCA Constitution (I chaired a committee to do that).

The OCA President wanted the Executive to have much more power, to get things done, and the leagues had already indicated tacitly they had agreed to that (lack of interest by OCA Directors [nowadays called OCA Governors] apparently; when the AGM to approve the new Constitution was held, hardly anyone outside of the Executive showed up).

This Constitution stood for many years, and when the latest one was written the Executive remained with it's relatively great powers (thus the OCA Directors, and later the OCA Governors, were transformed into little more than financial watchdogs). After a disasterous Canadian Open one year in the late 1980s, that had nothing to do with us, the OCA on its own organized a successful one in Scarborough. A preoccupation of the OCA President, I also recall, was making sure the leagues were paid their share of OCA CFC membership fee revenue on time.

Fast forward to last year's EOCA AGM (or the year before that, or the year before that...). It's time for people to volunteer to be CFC Governors. Little trouble filling those spots. Then volunteers to be OCA Governors are asked for. The spots are initially hard to fill. Gentle questions are asked. When people say, what do I have to do? The answer is basically 'nothing, but be ready to make noise if the OCA gives us a problem'. So, almost all the spots for OCA Governors are filled eventually, save one or two.

All in all, I think the thrust of our revamped Constitution back in the 1980s (and the one that followed decades later) was not a mistake. It's the OCA Executive, and the people who serve on it, that matters most. That's if the OCA really deserves to exist.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: 2010 Predictions

I'd be all for an OCA Newsletter. The question is: is there someone willing to do one for next to nothing? Or are the leagues willing to reduce their "cut" in order to fund a newsletter?

You're smart enough to figure out how to win the presidency, you should be smart enough to figure out how to write an OCA newletter. You are, after all, the one who wanted to lead.

The idea is to write a bunch of B.S. and end with "a good time was had by all".

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: 2010 Predictions

Some tidbits...

After a disasterous Canadian Open one year in the late 1980s, that had nothing to do with [the OCA], the OCA on its own organized a successful one in Scarborough.

More tidbits:

After that Canadian Open, the OCA Executive went on to organize the 1989 Ontario Closed, in Scarborough, on its own as well (the same year as its successfully organized Canadian Open, I'm fairly sure). As a player in the Ontario Closed that year (besides my being OCA Vice-President), I won the event. Though it was not a Zonal year, my main rivals that played were IMs Day and Vranesic, besides the young FMs Puri and the late Todd Southam. I drew Todd and defeated the other three.

In hindsight the OCA Executive that I served with at that time may, generally speaking, have been an exceptionally 'gritty' bunch. I would now recall that the then OCA President had the initials Y.F. (prefering not to mention his later troubles, I would note that he ran his own food company), the Secretary was Alex Knox, a workhorse organizer in the mold of Doug Burgess, and the Treasurer was (later CFC President) Maurice Smith.

The Junior Co-ordinator (then a youth, whose name escapes me) and myself were admittedly the organizational lightweights on the team. Aside from whether one or more future OCA Executive teams will again have such a 'grit' factor going for them remains to be seen. Another possible weakness with the OCA is that an Executive might be either scattered throughout the province, or, as actually happens in practice, an Executive might be concentrated in just one region, which seems to tend to benefit mainly/just that league (which is the one normally with the most OCA Governors voting during an election), as pet projects of that Executive tend to fall into that region (assuming too that these projects are successful ).

Returning to the red-hot year of my chess playing and organizational careers ;) (ahem), after the 1989 Ontario Closed I was thinking of playing in the Canadian Closed, depending where it was held, but a successful bid for a (non-zonal) Cdn Closed was not put forward by anyone, so it never happened that year. Furthermore my family moved back to the Ottawa area soon after the 1989 Onario Closed. Shortly thereafter I began to have all kinds of strange memories, visions, etc., as I alluded to in an older thread (Carl and others may prefer to call it schizophrenia). Eventually I recovered sufficiently, but not before I was embarassed that I could not coherently answer someone why I wasn't playing in weekend events as usual. Afterwards my chess career largely stagnated, but I stayed at reasonably respectable rating, mostly, for a natural (and wiley ) 2300+ player like myself.

Fast forward to the mid-2000s. A dynamic organizer in Ottawa comes to prominence, Neil James Frarey. My appetite whetted for chess progress and potential intrigue, I become a CFC Governor again. Soon, however, my handful of ideas came to naught. On top of that, I had initially guessed that a problem was few Governors were seconding motions, due to apathy/inertia. But the CFC's problem was worse; few people seemed to really know what they were doing, among the few Governors that were still reasonably active. I quit a short few years later, with the CFC facing financial disaster and a (phantom!?) suit over the Kingston affair. Another few years went by, and Neil James Frarey's star seemed to dim, for now...Meanwhile, the CFC has caught it's second wind, it seems, after much was lost...

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: 2010 Predictions

The idea [of a newsletter] is to write a bunch of B.S. and end with "a good time was had by all".

Good quality 'B.S.' would include an 'OCA President's Message' on the progress and future plans of the OCA. 'Across Ontario' would include reports and games from the leagues/provincial championships (a "good time was had by all" can be added after any event report by any TD reporting).

I once did a 1-2 page newsletter for a non-CFC inter-club league for some years in Mississauga back in the 1980s, handed out at the start of each month's round. Diagrams included. Even put in a stint as a TD (since I had lots of practice at my own non-CFC club). Easy to write, but I don't think I'd do it again unless I was paid like a superstar :D.

The RA Centre in Ottawa has many other clubs, besides a chess club, and the RA mails out a newsletter every winter and summer, sort of like a catalogue is sent twice a year by Sears. That's a leisurely pace for an OCA newsletter, to start with anyway.

[Gary Ruben]

Re: 2010 Predictions

Good quality 'B.S.' would include an 'OCA President's Message' on the progress and future plans of the OCA. 'Across Ontario' would include reports and games from the leagues/provincial championships (a "good time was had by all" can be added after any event report by any TD reporting).

Probably you had the right idea in the first place. It would cost less for the rest of Ontario if the EOCL withdrew from the OCA. Probably after the money for the newsletter was deducted, the amount to be split up would be even less than you are expecting and the members would have to pay more. Yes, the best is yet to come.

Maybe they should toss the money they would waste on a newsletter into the prize fund for the Ontario Closed.

What ever happened to that other message board you're mentioning? Did all the players who weren't banned go elsewhere?

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: 2010 Predictions

Probably you had the right idea in the first place. It would cost less for the rest of Ontario if the EOCL withdrew from the OCA. Probably after the money for the newsletter was deducted, the amount to be split up would be even less than you are expecting and the members would have to pay more. Yes, the best is yet to come.

Maybe they should toss the money they would waste on a newsletter into the prize fund for the Ontario Closed.

What ever happened to that other message board you're mentioning? Did all the players who weren't banned go elsewhere?

Possibly an OCA newsletter ought to wait for better times for the OCA. Like if they ever get funding again from the provincial government. I can't think of too many better services to offer the average OCA member offhand at the moment, though.

A sign that Ontario chess will remain fractured by region indefinitely is the fact I can't remember the last time an Ontario team championship (adults included) was held, especially with all regions represented.

Probably no one except the players in an Ontario Closed might notice much if the OCA beefed up the prize fund for the Closed. Except, you went and mentioned it .

If there were more CFC members, the problems of the OCA and the OCA affiliated leagues would be lessened, of course, but if there are screw ups or setbacks for any level of Ontario chess governance, all levels suffer.

The website for that message board is no longer in service, I gather. I saved a link directly to that message board among my favourites, but people rarely post there now. Also, the website was supposed to be replaced last summer with a snazzy new one, but that seems to have stalled. Perhaps someone has a cash flow problem .

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: 2010 Predictions

It would cost less for the rest of Ontario if the EOCL withdrew from the OCA.

Just a minor point. It is actually called the EOCA, not EOCL.

I don't know the story, but I recall being once told that apparently long, long ago (1960s or prior?) there was an EOCL, or Eastern Ontario Chess League, in Eastern Ontario, but because of some terrible scandal back then the whole league disbanded and/or changed it's name to the Eastern Ontario Chess Association, so that people would not confuse it with the previously scandalized EOCL. Henceforth the league in Eastern Ontario was the EOCA, or Eastern Ontario Chess Association.

A bit of a pity, since an 'Association' is a confusing name for a league in the OCA.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: 2010 Predictions

You should follow Karoly Szalay (http://chess.ca/memberinfo.asp?CFCN=134902 ), Jerry Xiong (http://chess.ca/memberinfo.asp?CFCN=133928) , Sebastian Predescu if he will play further ( http://chess.ca/memberinfo.asp?CFCN=102775 ) and others :)

These three junior/(former junior) EOCA players (along with young master Joey Qin) were mostly 'developed' by being taught by IM O'Donnell, who in the past was a CMA teacher. The CMA is, I would think, responsible for 'developing' way more players within Ontario/Canada to at least 2200+ strength than the OCA or CFC's efforts combined.

Foreign taught players also teach chess independently of the OCA/CFC/CMA. Within the EOCA, Lloyd Mai was taught by the young (formerly Romanian) master Mihnea Voloaca. Another chess teacher in the Ottawa area, nowadays, is (formerly Bosnian) master Mladin Djerkovic, who is semi-retired from the game otherwise. His most promising student is Mate Marinkovic. Then, of course, I ought not to forget largely self-taught players who made it to 2200+.

The OCA and the CFC largely dropped the ball on teaching chess ages ago, and the CMA picked it up and ran with it. But, as Neil James Frarey put it, the CMA makes for a good feeder system to get juniors into the CFC. On the other hand, in the none too distant past the efforts the CFC belatedly put into its own junior chess programs and services apparently concentrated it's few resources away from adequately serving its more numerous adult members, to a large degree.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: 2010 Predictions

Non-Chess Predictions:

8) Neither the US nor Isreal will premptively strike Iran;

9) The current US President will regain most of his lost popularity, as measured by the polls, by the end of 2010;

Time for the mother of all conspiracy theories.

Televangelist Jack Van Impe is a funny guy, but he specializes in mostly grim stuff related to the Book of Revelation, which most other TV preachers don't delve into as 'deeply'.

His good news is that there is supposed to be a Rapture, in which all believers are swept up and spared the seven years of tribulation outlined in that Book I referred to.

Jack, and his younger wife Rexella, look at headlines in the news that 'prove' the time of the Rapture is near. However he does tend to drift into even wilder conjecture as well. Among his more recent is that PERHAPS (since no one can know for sure) the Rapture will happen December 21, 2012.

Signs which are at least somewhat significant in Jack's eyes include that there is an old prophesy (by St. Malachi [sp?]) foretelling the number of Popes (and their insignia) all the way to the last one, who aids the Anti-Christ. We are supposedly at the second-last Pope right now.

There is also supposed to be a final world empire, which corresponds to the current EU, supposedly soon to be expanded. Also, secretive organizations are also helping pave the way for the New World Order, headed by the Anti-Christ ultimately. Henry Kissenger, who belongs to the secretive Bilderburg organization (which plans to plant a microchip in everyone by 2017 - the so-called Mark of the Beast - the pretext may be for anti-terrorism measures, or for improved commerce by simply scanning people's hands for the chip), once stated that Obama was to be primed as the leader of the EU (or, ultimately, new World Order, which will divide the world into 10 regions).

Anyway, after the Rapture, one of the awful things that is supposed to happen is a three-phase World War (beginning 42 months after the Rapture, the day also a 'brilliantly clever' peace treaty in the Middle East is finalized by the Anti-Christ, which divides Jerusalem). The first phase is when Iran and Russia, at least, attack Isreal. Isreal (presumably aided by any allies, and being blessed from above) will beat back the attack. Then the Kings of the East, most probably China included, since they could marshall the 200 million man army called for in the Book of Revalation, will launch another phase by marching into the Middle East. Again Isreal will prevail. Finally the whole world, lead by the Anti-Christ, will go against Isreal. At that point, seven years after the Rapture, the real Christ comes back and destroys the Anti-Christ, and war and other calamities will be at an end.

That is one possible interpretation of what partly happens in the seven years of tribulation. Not being a theologian, I don't know how widely accepted it is. However I am disturbed that there is a threat, worse than death, in the Book of Revelation against anyone who would deny one word of it. It's scary stuff too, if you believe in it. Most churches apparently tip toe around this Book and the so-called End-Times. Life is good, and the Book is confusing, so why scare people? Anyway, I am not at all sure that Book, in its current form, properly belongs in the Bible. Somebody wanted it included. Why? Who? The rest of the Bible, largely, may show a certain timeline, on which we are on. The Book might take us off into another one. Anyway, I have much better hopes for December 21, 2012.

[Jason Lohner]

Re: 2010 Predictions

Time for the mother of all conspiracy theories.

Televangelist Jack Van Impe is a funny guy, but he specializes in mostly grim stuff related to the Book of Revelation, which most other TV preachers don't delve into as 'deeply'.

a baptist minister who is well known for rattling off scripture references by rote... problem is when you read the actual scripture references... and find they have little or nothing to do with the news being referenced.

His good news is that there is supposed to be a Rapture, in which all believers are swept up and spared the seven years of tribulation outlined in that Book I referred to.

If you want to start an argument amongst christians bring up pre/mid/post tribulation rapture... sit back and watch them insult each other.

Jack, and his younger wife Rexella, look at headlines in the news that 'prove' the time of the Rapture is near. However he does tend to drift into even wilder conjecture as well. Among his more recent is that PERHAPS (since no one can know for sure) the Rapture will happen December 21, 2012.

donations must be down if he is now giving actual dates.

Signs which are at least somewhat significant in Jack's eyes include that there is an old prophesy (by St. Malachi [sp?]) foretelling the number of Popes (and their insignia) all the way to the last one, who aids the Anti-Christ. We are supposedly at the second-last Pope right now.

hmmm I read somewhere that this was the last pope... and he was supposed to be the first Pope that takes the name 'Peter'.

There is also supposed to be a final world empire, which corresponds to the current EU, supposedly soon to be expanded. Also, secretive organizations are also helping pave the way for the New World Order, headed by the Anti-Christ ultimately. Henry Kissenger, who belongs to the secretive Bilderburg organization (which plans to plant a microchip in everyone by 2017 - the so-called Mark of the Beast - the pretext may be for anti-terrorism measures, or for improved commerce by simply scanning people's hands for the chip), once stated that Obama was to be primed as the leader of the EU (or, ultimately, new World Order, which will divide the world into 10 regions).

Supposed to be a one world government run by the anti-christ. supposedly the Bilderburg group (yes it actually exists!) is secretly (or not so secretly ;)) trying to bring this about. As for the Microchip, it will be too expensive to implement worldwide... I still like the theory that it will be a bar code and that in almost every barcode there are two thin stripes at the beginning, middle and end used as breaks (they are longer) these stripes are also supposed to be the number 6 in barcode... I also guess that Obama can join the illustrious list of people who are being groomed for this new world order.

Anyway, after the Rapture, one of the awful things that is supposed to happen is a three-phase World War (beginning 42 months after the Rapture, the day also a 'brilliantly clever' peace treaty in the Middle East is finalized by the Anti-Christ, which divides Jerusalem). The first phase is when Iran and Russia, at least, attack Isreal. Isreal (presumably aided by any allies, and being blessed from above) will beat back the attack. Then the Kings of the East, most probably China included, since they could marshal the 200 million man army called for in the Book of Revelation, will launch another phase by marching into the Middle East. Again Israel will prevail. Finally the whole world, lead by the Anti-Christ, will go against Israel. At that point, seven years after the Rapture, the real Christ comes back and destroys the Anti-Christ, and war and other calamities will be at an end.

Beginning of the last seven years (reign of the Antichrist) will start with the signing of a peace treaty and rebuilding of the old Jewish temple. for 3 1/2 years will be prosperity and joy... then everything will fall apart in total chaos (the four horses of the Apocalypse!) in this final period Russia is supposed to attack and be annihilated by God, China (king of the east) with its 200 million man army will attack and basically the entire planet will attack Israel... when all seems to be lost, Jesus is supposed to return and wipe out the armies of the earth with his Army. Also during this last period 3/4 of the population will be wiped out, water will turn to blood, plagues and famine will break out and general degeneration of society will happen...

That is one possible interpretation of what partly happens in the seven years of tribulation. Not being a theologian, I don't know how widely accepted it is. However I am disturbed that there is a threat, worse than death, in the Book of Revelation against anyone who would deny one word of it. It's scary stuff too, if you believe in it. Most churches apparently tip toe around this Book and the so-called End-Times. Life is good, and the Book is confusing, so why scare people? Anyway, I am not at all sure that Book, in its current form, properly belongs in the Bible. Somebody wanted it included. Why? Who? The rest of the Bible, largely, may show a certain timeline, on which we are on. The Book might take us off into another one. Anyway, I have much better hopes for December 21, 2012.

yeah most churches just ignore the book of Revelations... but it is also the only book that comes with a blessing for those who read it... does it belong in the Bible? the eastern Orthodox church doesn't believe so... so they didn't include it. Actually for some 'light' reading the best selling 'Left Behind' series by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins (I believe there has been 60 million books sold) does a pretty 'orthodox' account of what many people believe the book of revelations teaches... all done in novel format. Not great fiction, but then again neither is Harry Potter :)

[Paul Bonham]

Re: 2010 Predictions

...there is a threat, worse than death, in the Book of Revelation against anyone who would deny one word of it. It's scary stuff too, if you believe in it. Most churches apparently tip toe around this Book and the so-called End-Times. Life is good, and the Book is confusing, so why scare people? Anyway, I am not at all sure that Book, in its current form, properly belongs in the Bible. Somebody wanted it included. Why? Who? The rest of the Bible, largely, may show a certain timeline, on which we are on. The Book might take us off into another one. Anyway, I have much better hopes for December 21, 2012.

Where does global climate warming fit in all of this? LOL

Voodoo is pretty scary stuff, too, if you believe in it. I would think many Churches, not the least of them being the Catholic Church, have definitely wanted to scare people over many centuries since the time of Christ. The more scared the people are, the more they'll tithe on Sundays.

That whole end-time scenario is pretty detailed, which argues against it ever happening. Assuming the Rapture did actually take place, wouldn't most people of the world, presented with this evidence and the fact of the Rapture happening and the appearance of the AntiChrist, refuse to take part in any more of the foretold events? Or maybe they are supposed to be mindless robots at that point.

I remember that after the events of 9/11, many people (or maybe just a few) took the quatrains of Nostradamus and cut and pasted lines of them to make it appear that he predicted the event. Well, maybe he did, and maybe it was meant to be discovered post-9/11 rather than pre-9/11. His quatrains are puzzling enough as they are, maybe he added another level of puzzlement to them. The resulting lines did actually seem a lot like a prediction what happened. Something about a "fire in the sky at 45 degrees" (New York City is around 45 degrees latitude) and a reference to twin towers being toppled. Maybe the lines themselves were modified, though, I can't remember now.

It might actually be interesting to gather his quatrains and cut and paste some more to try and come up with what might happen. But if it's not meant to be predicted, it won't get predicted, so I for one won't bother.

A similar idea were the two books about "The Bible Code". Something about taking words, even proper names, from today's events, finding them in the original text of the various books of the Bible and then linking them to other words nearby. I didn't read these books entirely, so I'm going by the synopsis of them that I remember reading a few years ago. The one thing I remember is that the Israeli politician Netanyahu was supposed to get assassinated. He's still active, so it could still happen, maybe, perhaps.

For me, this is all quite interesting, but if we're going to write about Revelation and possibly scare people, I think I should make another published work known that offers another view of why we are here and where we are going (but it doesn't include anything scary, and wisely, it doesn't provide an end-of-world scenario). It's the book by Sylvia Browne, "Life On The Other Side", the best of all of her books.

Actually, she wrote another good one, something about the life of Christ. Kevin, I think you would find that one very interesting. She does claim Christ was divine, the Son of God, but also claims that the death and resurrection of Christ were faked. I think she claims that Pontius Pilate agreed that Christ would be taken down from the cross before he was actually dead, would be taken away and revived, and that he and Mary Magdalene and some others would be taken out of the Middle East. She further claims they ended up settling in what is now France and living a long time afterward, and that his lineage is in the world today.

[Kevin Pacey]

Re: 2010 Predictions

Where does global climate warming fit in all of this? LOL

I watched a show on the Apocalyse once. One explanation for the oceans turning to blood, as Jason mentioned, is that as Ocean temperatures rise, if you believe in global warming (Mr. Moderator, please don't lock the thread, at least yet...), 'Red Tide' on a planetary scale will occur, i.e. with red algae multiplying and covering the oceans eventually.

That whole end-time scenario is pretty detailed, which argues against it ever happening. Assuming the Rapture did actually take place, wouldn't most people of the world, presented with this evidence and the fact of the Rapture happening and the appearance of the AntiChrist, refuse to take part in any more of the foretold events? Or maybe they are supposed to be mindless robots at that point.

One theory I heard on a religious show by the Lalonde Bros, a show which ended in the 1990s, was that the world populace that are going to be 'left behind' after the Rapture will be told that all the missing people were taken by aliens en masse :).

I remember that after the events of 9/11, many people (or maybe just a few) took the quatrains of Nostradamus and cut and pasted lines of them to make it appear that he predicted the event. Well, maybe he did, and maybe it was meant to be discovered post-9/11 rather than pre-9/11. His quatrains are puzzling enough as they are, maybe he added another level of puzzlement to them. The resulting lines did actually seem a lot like a prediction what happened. Something about a "fire in the sky at 45 degrees" (New York City is around 45 degrees latitude) and a reference to twin towers being toppled. Maybe the lines themselves were modified, though, I can't remember now.

A 'lost book', supposedly authored by Nostradamus, but actually copied by some sort of a scribe later on, was found in the not too distant past, as I have seen in recent TV documentaries on the man. Nostradamus' son that survived him was a bit artistic, and there were many mysterious drawings in the lost book, including one of a tower with flames shooting out sideways from it. It may also be interesting that one of the primary Tarot cards, used by fortune tellers for centuries, is the so-called Tower of Destruction.