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I'm aware of the responsibility, let's put it that way. I wouldn't go there if I didn't think I could do it and do it well. I do feel like that's what a writer does is he goes into other people's heads. Growing up [in D.C.], around here, in a city that was, when I was a kid, 75 percent black, you pick up the voices. And my dad had a diner and I was always out on the street, working with people, playing sports, things like that, and listening all the time. ... I sort of picked that up. I'm still very interested in that. A lot of what I do now, when I say I'm "researching" — it's really just being out there in the world and listening to people and trying to respect them when I get to the point where I'm putting it down on the page.

On racism in America

In general, you take the race thing and people seem to be surprised that there's still racism. It was supposed to end when Obama got elected, right? "Post-racial America." So I'll say in general that what I think, unfortunately, is that this problem will be solved when people of my generation and older die off, basically. Because you see it very rarely now in kids — and kids, juveniles, people in their 20s, they just don't care about it. Even people of my generation who have these bad feelings, they know enough, they've been smart enough not to pass it on to their kids, and so that is what's going to happen. I think things are going to get better in probably 20, 30 years, when people my age and older are gone.

On his experience adopting two kids from Brazil, which inspired the story "When You're Hungry"

Everybody thinks that adopting kids is some kind of noble calling, but I wanted to demystify it, take the mystery out of it and also show the humor of it. Because there are some sort of ridiculous things that happen when you adopt kids, and one of them is when you go to the lawyer's office — or whoever you're dealing with – [and] they throw a bunch of pictures on the table, of babies, and they'll say ... "Choose a baby."

I would say to my wife, "Well, OK, that's all well and good, but when I choose this baby, what happens to all the other ones? I'm rejecting them, it's a pretty big decision." Then we were in a meeting at some point and the attorney says to us, "What kind of baby do you want?" And I said, "What do you mean 'what kind'? Like, what color?" And he's like, "Well, yeah." I was sort of dumbfounded by that. ...

“ I saw the police pull into the parking lot and I was all jacked up on adrenaline and I just got in my car and I took off. I had to drive down the sidewalk to do it and a high-speed chase ensued, let's put it that way.

- George Pelecanos

It's relatively easy to adopt kids if you're not trying to get kids that look exactly like you. Because you hear how hard it is. But actually it happened very quickly for us.

On writing for The Wire

Laura Lippman, who was [series creator] David Simon's girlfriend at the time and she's a great writer out of Baltimore ... she gave David one of my books. It was a book called The Sweet Forever, which was one of my deep, urban, dark books that were set back in a time in Washington when things were pretty crummy.

I think she said to him, "Read this guy. He's doing in Washington what you're sort of doing in Baltimore." So David read it and I met him — I saw him at a funeral, actually, of a mutual friend ... and he says, "Ride back with me to the wake." So we're riding back and he says kind of casually, "I just sold a series to HBO about drug dealers and police." He downplayed it. He didn't tell me about his ambition or really what the show was going to be about. But I knew his work from Homicide and especially The Corner, which he co-wrote the book with Ed Burns. ... He offered me an episode for that first season. I accepted David's offer and I wrote the episode, which was the penultimate episode of season one.

On the last time he was arrested when he was 28 years old

I had been to a wedding in the daytime, which is always a bad idea, especially for my group of guys. So I got in a little accident, a little fender-bender in a parking lot and it escalated — more than one guy and me. There was shoving and stuff like that. Somebody called the police and one of those guys blocked my car from behind so I couldn't leave. I saw the police pull into the parking lot and I was all jacked up on adrenaline and I just got in my car and I took off. I had to drive down the sidewalk to do it and a high-speed chase ensued, let's put it that way. I lost them because it was in my neighborhood where I grew up and I knew all the alleys and side streets, but it was very dangerous what happened because I was blowing red lights and cars were spinning. ...

Anyway, the next day they called me at my apartment said "Would you like to come in or would you like us to come arrest you?" Because they had my license plate numbers. So I went by my parents' house ... I told them, "Mom and Dad, I'm about to go turn myself in," this and that. Anyway, I got charged with a bunch of stuff, including driving on the sidewalk, which is my favorite charge of that checkered night.

I ended up having to do go to this class at night for six weeks and I was looking around at the people in the classroom and I saw a bunch of guys who, to me, they were losers, you know what I mean? And then I came to the realization that I was one of them. So I sort of grew up and that's what happens. I got married shortly thereafter; two or three years later I wrote my first novel, started a family. People do change. I believe in that.

Read an excerpt of The Martini Shot

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.

Pegida

Germany

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!

pretzels

sandwich monday

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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EU

Euro

Europe

Greece