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Here's the background: A group calling itself Pegida — Patriotic Europeans against the Islamization of the West — has protested since October against Germany's asylum and immigration policies, which it views as lax. Germany takes in more refugees and asylum-seekers than other European Union countries.

Pegida's views aren't in the political fringe. One German journalist told the BBC that many of its supporters felt "hard done-by" by the media and politicians. And a recent poll in Stern magazine showed 1 in 8 Germans would join an anti-Islam march.

Pegida says it is not racist or xenophobic, says it opposes extremism and calls for the preservation of the country's Judeo-Christian culture. One demonstration organized by the group in Dresden before Christmas drew 17,500 people; another one on Monday in the same city attracted 18,000 people.

But attempts to replicate that turnout elsewhere have been met with counterprotests.

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People protest against Pegida in Hamburg, Germany, on Monday. Bodo Marks /EPA /LANDOV hide caption

itoggle caption Bodo Marks /EPA /LANDOV

People protest against Pegida in Hamburg, Germany, on Monday.

Bodo Marks /EPA /LANDOV

Counterdemonstrations that drew thousands of people were held in Berlin, Cologne, Dresden and Stuttgart. Efforts by Pegida supporters to march in Berlin on Monday were thwarted by counterdemonstrators who blocked their way. About 80 German politicians, celebrities and athletes signed a petition — headlined No to Pegida — in the Bild newspaper. They include former Chancellors Helmut Schmidt and Gerhard Schroeder, as well as Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier and Family Minister Manuela Schwesig.

And in her New Year's Day speech, Chancellor Angela Merkel called on her fellow Germans to be wary of groups such as Pegida.

"Do not follow people who organize these, for their hearts are cold and often full of prejudice, and even hate," Merkel said.

In some of most striking images of the counterprotests, Germany turned off the lights at its most famous landmarks, including Berlin's Brandenburg Gate and Cologne Cathedral.

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The lights at Cologne Cathedral are switched off Monday to make a statement against Pegida. Maja Hitij/EPA /LANDOV hide caption

itoggle caption Maja Hitij/EPA /LANDOV

The lights at Cologne Cathedral are switched off Monday to make a statement against Pegida.

Maja Hitij/EPA /LANDOV

"We don't think of it as a protest, but we would like to make the many conservative Christians [who support Pegida] think about what they are doing," Norbert Feldhoff, the dean of the cathedral, told the BBC.

Kathrin Oertel, one of Pegida's main organizers, told a rally in Dresden that there was "political repression" once again in Germany.

"Or how would you see it when we are insulted or called racists or Nazis openly by all the political mainstream parties and media for our justified criticism of Germany's asylum-seeker policies and the non-existent immigration policy?" she asked, according to the BBC.

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Auntie Anne's logo is a pretzel wearing a halo. This is probably supposed to connote a pretzel that's good for you. Or heavenly, maybe? But when you look at it long enough, it makes you think: Pretzels can die. And there's an afterlife for them.

Is pretzel heaven the same as people heaven? Where do bad pretzels go? These are the things that go through your head when you're waiting for your Pretzel Dog — a hot dog wrapped in soft pretzel.

Ian: This is indistinguishable from a Nerf Blowgun.

Eva: I think this is just what a hotdog looks like after the holidays.

Robert: You know, if you put two of these together, it steps down the voltage to 120!

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Robert takes the bite less traveled by. NPR hide caption

itoggle caption NPR

Robert takes the bite less traveled by.

NPR

Ian: What?

Ian: It looks like a pretzel boa constrictor is trying to kill a hot dog.

Eva: Isn't the idea that a pretzel is bread in a knot? This is a pretzel that can't touch its toes.

Miles: You know, people are taking workplace safety too seriously when they start foam-padding the hot dogs.

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My pretzel is not fully cooked. D'ough! NPR hide caption

itoggle caption NPR

My pretzel is not fully cooked. D'ough!

NPR

Robert: See, a transformer works by placing two electrical coils with different windings side by side, allowing different input and output voltages. This pretzel looks like an electrical coil.

Miles: This is just a hot dog with a bun that's a little too clingy.

Lorna: If you're in a rush, attach it to a drill for faster consumption.

Robert: These coils are inside every computer and phone charger you own. Trust me, this is killing it with the electricians. Killing it.

[The verdict: It combines two things that are good and creates one thing that is good.]

Sandwich Monday is a satirical feature from the humorists at Wait, Wait ... Don't Tell Me!

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The euro fell today to a nine-year low against the dollar amid continuing doubts over Greece's future in the currency union and renewed prospects of monetary easing in the eurozone, the club of 19 EU countries that share the common currency.

The euro fell 1.2 percent against the dollar to $1.1864 — the lowest level since March 2006; it later recovered to $1.19370.

Here's why this is happening:

Political Instability In Greece: Greeks vote in elections Jan. 25, and polls show the left-wing opposition Syriza party with a lead. The group opposes the IMF- and EU-mandated austerity plan imposed after Greece's economy was bailed out. This is prompting fears a Syriza victory means Greece could exit the eurozone. The euro's slide today came after an article in the German news magazine Der Spiegel that said Germany could allow Greece to drop out of the currency union.

Possible Quantitative Easing: Europe's economy has struggled to recover from the global recession, and there is speculation the European Central Bank could introduce quantitative easing to stimulate the eurozone. The ECB has already lowered interest rates to record lows, and it could now embark on a program to buy billions of euros in bonds to spur the economy. This usually has the effect of currencies losing ground, which is what is happening with the euro. But news reports note the situation in Greece could persuade the ECB to hold off on any announcement until after the Greek election.

The Dollar: The U.S. Federal Reserve introduced quantitative easing in 2008, lowering interest rates to near zero and buying trillions of dollars of bonds and mortgages to boost the economy. The dollar fell against major currencies, making U.S. exports cheaper. But since those days, the U.S. economy has become stronger. In the third quarter of 2014, it grew by 5 percent and created jobs. The Fed has eased the policy of quantitative easing and is now considering when to start raising interest rates. All this is making the dollar stronger against other major currencies – another reason for the euro's decline.

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Columbia? Taken. Mississippi? Taken. Sacramento? El Nio? Marlin? Grizzly? Sorry, they're all taken.

Virtually every large city, notable landscape feature, creature and weather pattern of North America — as well as myriad other words, concepts and images — has been snapped up and trademarked as the name of either a brewery or a beer. For newcomers to the increasingly crowded industry of more than 3,000 breweries, finding names for beers, or even themselves, is increasingly hard to do without risking a legal fight.

Candace Moon, a.k.a. The Craft Beer Attorney, is a San Diego lawyer who specializes in helping brewers trademark ideas and also settle disputes. Moon tells The Salt she has never seen a brewery intentionally infringe upon another's trademarked name, image or font style. Yet, with tens of thousands of brands in the American beer market, it happens all the time.

"There are only so many words and names that make sense with beer, so it's not surprising that many people will come up with the same ideas," Moon says.

A frequently recurring issue, she says, is different breweries thinking they've coined the same hop-centric puns and catchphrases for their beers. A quick Google search reveals multiple beers named "Hopscotch," and at least three India Pale Ales with the name "Bitter End."

Name overlaps may not matter as long as the beers are sold in different regions, but in such cases, Moon says, would-be conflicts often go unresolved.

When two large breweries with broad distribution are involved, the matter is almost always settled, sometimes amicably.

For example, when the brewers at Avery in Colorado and Russian River in California discovered that they each had a beer named Salvation, they met at an annual Colorado beer festival to talk it out. Vinnie Cilurzo, co-owner and brewmaster of Russian River Brewing Company, says that neither he nor Adam Avery knew who first coined the name. Nor were they particularly worried about it. Still, they took the opportunity to come a clever conclusion. They combined their beers in a blend and named it "Collaboration Not Litigation."

Other cases get ugly. In July 2013, Lagunitas Brewing Co.'s owner, Tony Magee, received a cease-and-desist order from SweetWater Brewing Co. in Atlanta demanding that the Northern California brewing giant stop using the marijuana code "420" in the cryptic artwork and messaging found on many Lagunitas beer labels. Since the 1990s, SweetWater had made a beer called 420 Extra Pale Ale. Magee, who responded to the demand with a volley of Twitter jabs at SweetWater, quickly agreed to the demand.

"I decided, 'You want to own 420, fine, you can have it,' " Magee says. "And it's true: They legitimately owned it."

Magee admits he has called out others — like Knee Deep Brewing Co. — when they printed IPA labels too similar to his own. The Lagunitas IPA label features three stencil-style letters, bold and black, in serif font and without periods in between.

"It's not that we trademarked the alphabet, but we trademarked the arch presentation of those letters," Magee explains. "From a design standpoint, I found the most elegant way to put 'IPA' on a label, so it's likely that others would have landed on the same design."

American trademark law lumps breweries together with wineries and distilleries, making the naming game even chancier. A widely circulating rumor has it that Yellow Tail Wines, of Australia, came after Ballast Point Brewing Co., in San Diego, for naming a beer "Yellowtail." Ballast Point's pale ale is now conspicuously lacking a fish-themed name (a signature, if not a trademark, of the brewery), though an image of a brightly colored yellowtail still resides plainly — and legally, it seems — on the label. A spokesperson for Ballast Point said the company could not discuss the matter.

Even imagery can be trademarked and protected in court. San Diego's Port Brewing Company, for instance, applied several years ago for a trademark on using Celtic cross-shaped tap handles at its brewpub, specifically for its Lost Abbey label. When Port, which first installed its stylized tap handles in 2008, discovered that Moylan's Brewery and Restaurant, near San Francisco, was serving beer with similar handles, Port sued Moylan's.

"I'd been using Celtic crosses for 16 years when [Port's owner] came after me," Brendan Moylan tells The Salt. Moylan says he lost time and money fighting the lawsuit—but not his crosses. He thumbed his nose at the San Diego brewery and kept his tap handles.

Moylan's has been involved in other trademark battles, too. Moylan says he was the first brewery to name a beer Kilt Lifter. However, he didn't trademark the two words. Over the years, other craft breweries put the same name on their own beers—often dark and malty Scotch-style ales. Moylan, who says he isn't a "trademarkey kind of guy," wasn't concerned.

Then, as Moylan tells it, a brewing company in Arizona called Four Peaks not only adopted the name but applied for a trademark on it. Foreseeing legal troubles, Moylan voluntarily took the name off bottles of his beer that were shipped to states where Four Peaks' beers are sold. Four Peaks' representatives could not be reached for comment.

Moylan says the owners of Four Peaks recently visited his brewpub with a peace offering: a Four Peaks T-shirt and some beer. Moylan drank the beer and has even worn the shirt. It might not have been the happiest ending for his Kilt Lifter, but it wasn't a, um, bitter end.

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