Nostradamus scholar John Hogue returned to the show as the main guest on Monday night. He discussed his new biography of Nostradamus, which he said attempts to sort out the patchwork of myths and facts about the seer's life. One of Nostradamus quatrains offered a far-flung prediction: In the year 3797, the sun would have "a great conflagration that would devour the Earth," Hogue recounted.

Offering his own forecasts for the future, Hogue said he accesses his predictive powers via a Zen-like "effortless effort," which he first developed during voice training while singing Opera. He sees the time period of 2008-2009, as when major upheavals could occur, such as an explosion at Yellowstone and/or a major biochemical attack by terrorists. He also believes that this is a likely time frame for a war between China and Taiwan. On a more positive note, he said by 2015 the next generation of telescopes will be able to see signs of artificial light on neighboring worlds.

He predicts Bush will win a second term in 2004, though "I see a shadow over him," he said, which could portend a serious health problem or accident. While it will be a close race, he commented that the Democrats won't run a strong enough candidate to win. However he predicted that Hillary Clinton will run and probably win in 2008, with a campaign referencing the good old days of when the Clintons were previously in the White House. "Schwarzenegger will be President if he can pull off this test in California," Hogue added.

Gulf War II Illness

First hour guest, Gulf War Vets spokesperson Joyce Riley, gave an update on Gulf War II illnesses which she said bore similarities to Gulf War (I) Syndrome. She said there were a large number of soldiers with "non-hostile wounds" i.e. sickness not due to combat. Many of these cases were being called pneumonia, but Riley doubted this diagnosis. She suspects that exposure to depleted uranium and various vaccines could be what's making troops sick and in some cases dying.