NPR Blogs

[This piece contains a little information about Lost. Take it under advisement.]

I vanished into an introspective fog on the train this morning, as I sometimes do, and for whatever reason, I found myself thinking about Lost, and about Charlie, and about his hand flattened against the glass: "NOT PENNY'S BOAT." And suddenly, I realized that my fingers had straightened and spread; without thinking, I was making a Charlie hand.

With bedbugs bunking just about everywhere these days, people battling the bloodsucking insects may be tempted to try their hand at driving them away.

But ultrasonic bug zappers, which retail for less than $25, aren't the solution, say entomologists who tested some of the devices.

Good morning.

Our early headlines:

-- Can A 'Fiscal Cliff' Deal Be Both In And Out Of Reach? Yes.

-- Jenni Rivera: A Beautiful Voice Goes Silent.

Other stories making news:

The news that no survivors have been found in the wreckage of a small plane in which Mexican-American singer Jenni Rivera and six others were traveling before it crashed Sunday in northern Mexico means "the world has lost one very beautiful voice," as E! Online writes.

According to The Associated Press:

The face-to-face meeting at the White House Sunday between President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner has led to analyses such as these this morning:

Egypt's main opposition group has called for mass protests against President Mohammed Morsi's decision to go ahead with a referendum on the country's draft constitution.

"We do not recognize the draft constitution because it does not represent the Egyptian people," said Sameh Ashour, who spoke on behalf of the National Salvation Front, the main umbrella group for opposition parties.

U.S. forces rescued Sunday an American doctor who was kidnapped in Afghanistan last week.

Dr. Dilip Joseph of Colorado Springs, Colo., was kidnapped Dec. 5 along with two other aid workers who were returning from a visit to a rural medical clinic outside Kabul. All three worked for Morning Star Development, a Colorado-based nonprofit.

NPR's Sean Carberry reported on the rescue for our Newscast Unit. Here's what he said:

That fledgling Democrat within Charlie Crist, former Republican governor of Florida, has emerged at last:

This should be The Decision That Surprised No One, since Crist was a featured speaker at the Democratic National Convention last September and had been a registered independent before that.

As NPR's S.V. Date writes,

Some outraged protesters remain around the Egyptian presidential palace in Cairo today, as opponents of President Mohammed Morsi defy his recent ruling granting himself executive powers that can't be questioned by a court.

Now there's word he may have signed a new order allowing soldiers to detain and arrest civilians, a right that's reserved for police officers.