For those of you whose brains are fried after a summer of sun and surf, here's a little news update:

In July you didn't miss much because nothing happened. After last winter's "Velvet Revolution" in Eastern Europe and Germany's official reunification in the spring, the papers had little to talk about. Headlines were reduced to taxpayers whining about Dukakis' new tax bill and Hinghamites quibbling about the MBTA's proposed Greenbush line. Ho-hum.

August was a different story. Middle East bully and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein gobbled up tiny neighbor Kuwait for no good reason. Saddam promised an Iraqi pullout from Kuwait, but he was lying, and nobody believed him anyway. Our esteemed President George Bush got a severe case of Iraqnophobia, and fearing for the safety of our ally Saudi Arabia and Americans in the area (read: fearing for the safety of cheap oil) decided to "draw a line in the sand" and send in troops to defend Saudi Arabia as well as to impose economic sanctions upon Iraq. Whew.

That's the Iraq story in a nutshell. But there's a point here. As those of you glancing back at my headline are probably thinking, "What does this have to do with Nostradamus?" Well, I'll tell you.

Nostradamus was a 16th century astrologer and prophet who had a knack for accurate predictions. According to Erika Cheetham's book Further Prophecies of Nostradamus, the Frenchman correctly predicted the coming of Napoleon and Hitler, as well as the assassination of the Kennedy brothers, among other things.

According to Cheetham's translations and interpretations, Nostradamus predicted that at some point between the coming of Halley's Comet (1986) and the end of the millennium (1999) there would be widespread war, turmoil, famine and disease. Fortunately, Halley's Comet was hardly a monumental event in our lives, and little has happened since. However, according to Nostradamus, the seeds of the Third World War lie in the Middle East.

His story, briefly, involves the White Turban leader, the dominant force of the Middle East around the time of Halley's Comet. He will be overthrown by the Blue Turban leader, also known as the third antichrist, who is presumably named "Perse" with two followers named "Alus" and "Mabus." The three together, still in the Middle East, set off World War III, and thus the destruction of Earth.

Not a fun story, and hardly believable, but we must pay attention because of Nostradamus' accuracy and these links between the prophesies and reality:

The White Turban man is regarded by interpreters as the late Ayatollah Khomeini, certainly a ruthless Middle East leader in the years up to, and including, 1986. The Blue Turban man was once considered to be Libyan leader/knothead Moammar Khadafy. He, however, is no longer a serious threat, and he certainly is not strong enough to be considered the third antichrist.

Which brings us to Saddam Hussein. In a long list of Middle East madmen, he is the most recent, and one of the most menacing. Nostradamus, in documented prophecies, hinted at problems in the oil fields as well as the possibility of a force from Iraq. Saddam has repeatedly tried to overthrow the White Turban man, the Ayatollah, in the ten-year Iran-Iraq war. These are the only obvious connections between Sadam and the Blue Turban man so far, but he is a possibility.

I have never seen Saddam (or Khadafy for that matter) wearing a blue turban, and his virtual isolation from outside helps decrease his chances of becoming another Napolean or Hitler. However, only time can tell how dangerous Saddam can get.

Our only cause for concern is Nostradamus' keen accuracy in predicting events of the past 400 or so years. Keep your eyes open and fingers crossed, and don't run for president in 2000.n