Nostradamus and the End of the World in 2012

There are countless sites stating Nostradamus "predicted" the End of the World in 2012. This is nonsense, written down by people who are simply copy-pasting what others have said, without even reading the prophecies of Nostradamus. This is what Nostradamus wrote in the preface to his prophecies (that was, in fact, a letter to his son Caesar): "I have composed books of prophecies, containing each one hundred astronomic quatrains of forecasts, which I have tried to polish through obscurely, and which are perpetual vaticinations, from now to the year 3797. It is possible that this figure will make some lift up their forehead, at such a vast extent of time, and variety of things to take place under the concave journey of the moon; and this universal treatment of causes, my son, throughout the earth, which, if you reach the natural age of man, you will see in your climate, under the heaven of your proper nativity, as things that have been foreseen."

Nostradamus 2012: End of the World Prophesy states that new writings of Nostradamus have been found: "They obviously aren't ‘new', but they have previously been hidden. The revelations that the most famous medieval prophet wrote were controversial and considered blasphemous in his time. A previously unknown book of Nostradamus' prophesies has been found in the National Library and it contains his end of the world prophesy. The History Channel is airing a new show focusing on his predictions about 2012. The show, The Lost Book of Nostradamus, will premiere January 4, 2009. A video about the show is included here."

Obviously, this is a hoax. Nostradamus has predicted events until 3797, in a book published centuries ago... Why should he have written and published all these prophecies from the 16th century to 3797, if he knew - according to this "lost book" - that the world would end in 2012?

Somehow, the 2012 Doomsday Craze seems to have started with the Mayan Calendar, ending in 2012. But, as frogdropping said it in one of his two great hubs on the subject (follow the links!), that the Mayan calendar does come to an end in 2012, doesn't have to mean the world will end in 2012. The Calendar just stopped in 2012... and that's all, folks.

The Mayan Calendar is thought to be a "prophetic calendar that may help us understand the past and foresee the future". Quoting frogdropping ('cause I couldn't say it better): "I haven't read anything as misleading as that (honest) since the last time I read a ‘buy one get one free' offer. The calendar is not prophetic. It was devised to measure time. I'm not saying that the Mayan shamans didn't try to foresee coming seasons, what their Gods were up to and what they should do to keep their Gods happy. But it's basic priniciple was that of a calendar."

If, indeed, the Mayan Calendar was "prophetic"... which were then the facts of the past centuries, predicted by the Calender? And how do you explain the Maya's knew the exact year when "the" world will come to an end... but did not know "their" world would meet its end centuries before?