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Vietnam veteran John Otte did his best to forget the war. He got married, raised two sons and made a career working at credit unions. But as Otte neared retirement, memories of combat flooded back. Starting in 2005, he filed a series of claims with Veterans Affairs for disability compensation, contending that many of his health problems stemmed from the war. The VA agreed, and now the 65-year-old with two Purple Hearts receives $1,900 a month for post-traumatic stress disorder and diabetes - and for having shrapnel scars on his arms.

Advertising company Lamar sued the city of Los Angeles two months ago, demanding the right to install new digital billboards in such neighborhoods as Sherman Oaks, Silver Lake, Glassell Park and the Fairfax district. Lamar's involvement in city politics did not stop there. Since it filed that lawsuit, the company has financed scores of billboards for candidates in the May 21 election - 100 for mayoral hopeful Wendy Greuel, 100 for city controller candidate Dennis Zine and 20 apiece for City Council candidates Curren Price, Nury Martinez and Gil Cedillo.

Whether by necessity or choice, a quarter of Americans take at least one vacation by themselves each year. Some solo travelers are single. Some have partners who dislike travel or have different interests or can't get away. Some just crave freedom. But all face the same question: What's the best trip for the person traveling alone? "The key is to know yourself," said Beth Whitman, author of a guide for women traveling alone and founder of Wanderlustandlipstick.com , a website devoted to advice and tours for women on the go. "There are times when you just need to get away, to recuperate.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's giant Popocatepetl volcano may generate lava flows, explosions of "growing intensity" and ash that could reach miles away, the National Center for Disaster Prevention said Monday. Officials were preparing evacuation routes and shelters for thousands of people who live in the shadow of Popocatepetl, located 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. Officials have created a 7.5-mile restricted zone around the cone of the volcano. Popo, as the volcano is known, has displayed a "notable increase in activity levels" in the last few days, including tremors and explosive eruptions, according to a statement from the federal government.

MEXICO CITY - Mexico's giant Popocatepetl volcano may generate lava flows, explosions of "growing intensity" and ash that could reach miles away, the National Center for Disaster Prevention said Monday. Officials were preparing evacuation routes and shelters for thousands of people who live in the shadow of Popocatepetl, located 40 miles southeast of Mexico City. Officials have created a 7.5-mile restricted zone around the cone of the volcano. Popo, as the volcano is known, has displayed a "notable increase in activity levels" in the last few days, including tremors and explosive eruptions, according to a statement from the federal government.

In these troubled economic times, it's not hard to understand why people might want to protect their life savings by purchasing a hard asset like gold or silver. At least, that's the pitch of Monex, the big Newport Beach investment firm, which bills itself as "America's trusted name in precious metals investments" and assures clients that it's "committed to customer service. " So let's take a look at the experiences of some customers who say their trust in Monex was misplaced.

You've heard about the "Wheat Belly" diet, right? Well, technically, it doesn't exist. Dr. William Davis points out that the word "diet" does not appear on either the cover of his bestselling "Wheat Belly" book published in 2011 or on the follow-up, "Wheat Belly Cookbook," which was published last month and already tops bestseller lists. And that omission is intentional, Davis said. "Wheat Belly" is about stripping your plate of a substance that contributes to heart disease, causes joint pain, inflammation, foggy thinking, bloating and much more, Davis said.

Auto leasing deals abound these days, with offers that often seem too good to be true. How about a well-equipped Honda Accord for $250 a month with no down payment or any other drive-off fees? Or better yet, $199 a month for a Chevrolet Malibu? So, what's the catch? There isn't any if you know what you're getting into. There are always details. You need top-tier credit to qualify. You pay a penalty if you turn that Honda in with more than 36,000 miles. And the payment is not $250 a month because of that little matter of tax. It is more like $275, depending on where you live.

Security researchers Nick DePetrillo and Don Bailey have discovered a seven-digit numerical code that can unlock all kinds of secrets about you. It's your phone number. Using relatively simple techniques, this duo can use your cellphone number to figure out your name, where you live and work, where you travel and when you sleep. They could even listen to your voice messages and personal phone calls — if they wanted to. "It's really interesting to watch a phone number turn into a person's life," DePetrillo said.

Sometimes it's the simplest things that are the most confounding. Last year, right before Easter, I blogged about how to make a perfect hard-boiled egg. Basic? Yes. Popular? Very. This seemingly simple task received tens of thousands of page views. And, it seemed, almost as many complaints: "But how do you peel them?" Mea culpa. while my method ensures that hard-boiled eggs are never overdone (at last: the cure for the dreaded copper-green ring!), it also can make them harder to shell, because perfectly cooked eggs turn out to be stickier than ones that have been overcooked.

The history of Europe is written in its people's DNA. The Huns and the Slavs made incursions into Eastern Europe about 1,500 years ago. Migrants moved from Ireland to England in recent centuries. Populations in Italy and Spain have been comparatively stable. None of this is breaking news. But scientists were able to see it anew by examining the patterns of genes in 2,257 people now living in 40 countries on the continent. It's surprising "how much past history was still evident in the patterns we've seen," said Peter Ralph, a computational biologist at USC who reported the findings Tuesday in the journal PLOS Biology.

A fast-moving brush fire powered by Santa Ana winds raged out of control Wednesday in Riverside County, forcing hundreds of people to flee their homes and creating a thick pall of smoke that stretched for miles and affected air quality in the region. The Summit fire, which had charred at least 2,950 acres near Banning, spread quickly after breaking out shortly after noon as hundreds of firefighters struggled to create containment lines and protect homes, officials said. The blaze destroyed at least one home and left one firefighter with minor injuries.

China employs an army of censors. As many as 50,000 well-trained monitors police the Internet, and 12 government departments are empowered to search and seize information and shut down users and sites. They work fast: A recent study conducted by two American computer scientists found that 30% of banned posts are removed within half an hour of posting, and 90% within 24 hours. International corporations must abide by the censors or forgo doing business in China. Paramount Pictures, for example, agreed in April to cut scenes from a new Brad Pitt movie to remove an unflattering reference to China.

Tens of thousands of Angelenos abandoned their cars Sunday and hopped on their bikes, strapped on their rollerblades or pulled on their walking shoes and took to the streets to rediscover their city as part of the sixth CicLavia. Starting near City Hall, the cyclists, skateboarders, dog-walkers, runners and pedestrians slowly began making their way along the 15-mile, car-free route that will take them from downtown to Venice Beach. Organizers were expecting more than 100,000 people to participate in Sunday's event.

Charles McKay makes a detailed spreadsheet of the authors he wants to hear during the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books, typing in his first and second choices and getting tickets ahead of time. Jerry Oborn, from San Diego, said she goes about it another way: “I just wander around.” But McKay and Oborn both said they finish the festival the same way - with a long list of new books to read. MORE: The L.A. Times map of literary Los Angeles “It takes us months to get through all these books by authors who inspired us,” said McKay, who lives in the South Bay. McKay and Oborn were among 150,000 people expected to attend the 18th annual book festival this weekend at USC. Under clear and hot skies Saturday, visitors listened to poetry, watched cooking demonstrations, danced to local bands and shopped at dozens of makeshift bookstores.

A 40-minute high-speed pursuit came to an end Friday in Thousand Oaks, where a driver lost control of his sports car and a CHP cruiser slammed into the side of it, officials said. TV images showed California Highway Patrol officers with guns drawn quickly surrounding the car and forcing a man out with his hands above his head before he laid down on the ground and was handcuffed. CHP officials said they are waiting for a report from the field on why the pursuit began. The officials said the pursuit began at 8:11 a.m. in Tarzana, with suspect speeding on the 101 Freeway and later the 23 Freeway and then taking to city streets in Thousand Oaks.

The manhunt continued in Colorado on Wednesday for the person who kidnapped and killed 10-year-old Jessica Ridgeway, who was mourned this week by more than 2,000 people. The young cheerleader was abducted on her way to meet friends for their daily walk to school two weeks ago. Her body was discovered in a secluded area just miles from her home in the Denver suburb of Westminster. At a public memorial service, family, friends and others remembered the girl's love of animals - she had two fish, two frogs and a dog - and her glowing personality, the Associated Press reported.

More than 100,000 people took to the streets Saturday in the biggest show of protest in Russia's capital since the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s. "Russia without Putin!" the crowd chanted as it protested alleged election fraud during the recent parliamentary vote that saw Prime Minister Vladimir Putin's United Russia party garner nearly 50% of the vote. Many in the crowd said they were fed up with Putin, who served as president for eight years beginning in 2000 and is now seeking a return to the presidency in an election scheduled for March.

LONDON -- With stately solemnity and military honors, Margaret Thatcher's body was borne through the streets of the British capital Wednesday morning to a funeral service where hundreds of world leaders, colleagues and friends paid their last respects to this country's first and only female prime minister. Inside imposing St. Paul's Cathedral, more than 2,000 mourners gathered for a simple religious service in memory of the woman whose transformative but controversial premiership, from 1979 to 1990, was the longest Britain had seen since the early 19th century.

If you haven't found your way over to the Egyptian Theatre to partake of the perfectly pulpy fun of the 15th annual Festival of Film Noir, it is not too late. One of my favorites is there Friday night as part of the double feature package of film based on just two of some 30-plus novels and stories from crime fiction maestro Cornell Woolrich that would make it to the big screen. Some like "Rear Window" would become classics. Few, though, have made it to DVD. That's what makes Friday night's noir lineup -- a cooperative effort between the American Cinematheque and Film Noir Foundation -- such a rare treat.