Wallet

Despite complaints about his failure to support Hollywood's position on online piracy, President Obama does not appear to have lost his fundraising base in the entertainment community. As Obama arrives in Los Angeles on Wednesday, local campaign fundraisers said there has been no drop-off in Hollywood donations to his reelection bid since the D.C. demise of long-sought anti-piracy legislation. Hollywood's chief lobbyist Chris Dodd suggested last month that Obama and his fellow Democrats could pay a price for not representing the industry's interests in Washington.

A 45-foot-high artificial Christmas tree towers over Manger Square, and downtown Bethlehem is festooned with sparkling decorations. There's even a picture of a saxophone-playing Santa Claus. But Nabil Giacaman, co-owner of a souvenir shop called Christmas House, isn't feeling the holiday spirit. The third-generation woodcarver, who sells handmade likenesses of baby Jesus and the Virgin Mary, sees as many as 200 tour buses arrive every day from Israel to visit the Church of the Nativity, just a few steps from his store.

Verizon Wireless has been a key supporter of Google's Android software for smartphones and other devices, but the relationship between the two companies got complicated last week. Google disclosed that, at Verizon's request, it had withdrawn an innovative feature from a hotly anticipated phone being made for Verizon's network. The feature is a wireless payment system called Google Wallet, which just so happens to compete with a service that Verizon and two other mobile network operators are developing.

UCLA masquerades by day as a dream job in a dreamy location minutes from the beach and Rodeo Drive. The campus is sun-splashed and gorgeous and surrounded by swimming pools and movie stars. Jackie Robinson, Bob Waterfield and Troy Aikman graced these university grounds, so how come no outsider wants to coach the descendants? The search for Rick Neuheisel's successor drags on, like Igor and his chain, with prospective candidates drying up or seeking employment elsewhere. Checked off the list so far are Boise State's Chris Petersen (no surprise)

When I get into a taxi, I almost always ask the cabbie, "Where you from?" In Los Angeles that can be a dangerous gang challenge, but because in my experience cabbies are never from Los Angeles, it hasn't been a problem. What I hear back is Liberia, Armenia, Bangladesh, Belarus and so on. And then I say, depending on whatever home country they named, "Are you from Monrovia?" or Yerevan or Dhaka or Minsk? Invariably, the cab drivers are delighted, even proud, that a stranger, an American, knows their capital.

Heavier in the wallet, and lighter on the ice … Kings defenseman Drew Doughty , proving again that you can be richer and thinner, was getting reacquainted with his usual line of work in El Segundo on Friday afternoon after signing an eight-year, $56-million contract with the organization. Before a quick session on the ice, Doughty met with a handful of reporters and disclosed that he is 203 pounds, about seven pounds under his usual playing weight. Now back to those other, well, important numbers, more meaningful than the Kings' 3-1 victory against the Ducks at Honda Center on Friday night.

Dunta Robinson hit. And the NFL hit back. The league Monday fined the Atlanta Falcons cornerback $40,000 for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Philadelphia's Jeremy Maclin, reasoning the receiver was in a "defenseless posture" having just made a catch an instant before. The hit came with 6 minutes 12 seconds to play in the third quarter, as Maclin was running across the middle with the ball. Robinson blasted his helmet into Maclin's, flattening the receiver. Maclin lay on the turf for several seconds and got up slowly but was able to return to the game.

"Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun. " To that, lyricist Noel Coward could have added bargain-seeking golfers. If you thought Las Vegas hotel prices dropped when the mercury climbs skyward, wait until you see the green fees at nearby courses. So save a bundle, avoid the nasty wind and cold in what the tourism bureau calls "high season" and work on that tan. But before discussing where, let's remember a few important hows of desert golf: 1. "Swing oil" is not your friend; water is. Drink lots.

The Copa America is less than two weeks away, with the kickoff in Argentina set for July 1, but four of the players expected to star in South America's quadrennial championship already are the talk of the European summer transfer market. The world's wealthiest clubs are lining up to throw money at one or more of the names they hope will either keep them at the top or get them there. Spanish and European champion Barcelona, for example, already has said it will splash out more than $60 million, even though most fans would say there is little that needs fixing at the Camp Nou, where Argentina's Lionel Messi is the brightest in a glittering array of stars.

Smartphones are about to take a major swipe at plastic. Internet search giant Google Inc. has unveiled an application that would enable consumers to use their Android smartphones to pay for products at hundreds of thousands of retail stores worldwide. Google Wallet, set to launch this summer, is the company's entry into the burgeoning and increasingly competitive business of turning mobile devices into digital credit cards. Big cellphone makers, including Nokia Corp., Research in Motion Ltd. and reportedly Apple Inc., are rushing to roll out new handsets that will allow consumers to pay for groceries, subway passes and restaurant meals by simply waving their phones over a digital sensor.