By now, most of you have no doubt hear the parallels of Tuesday's tragedy to a verse attributed to 16th century prophet Nostradamus.

The eight lines seem to predict the World Trade Center attack and the subsequent start of World War III. If you've received this e-mail, please don't forward it: it's a malicious hoax.

Some of the words do indeed come from Nostradamus (though they've been spliced, diced, and rearranged to form a coherent prediction). But the most worrisome specifics--lines such as "In the city of York there will be a great collapse, two twin brothers torn apart by chaos" and "The third big war will begin when the big city is burning"--are fabricated whole cloth.

Shame on those who would spend their energies spreading fear while we're all so vulnerable.