A.M. Links: Election Day in the U.S., Media Blackout for Chinese Leadership Transition, Suicide Bomber Kills 27 in Iraq

Leadership transitions in the U.S. and China

• It's election day so vote early and often, and if you see something say something. The first votes were cast in two villages in New Hampshire after midnight and polls elsewhere in the U.S. are beginning to open this morning. Lawyers are excited about the role they'll play. A tracking poll showed Obama and Romney both with 47 percent headed into election day while John Boehner is convinced Republicans can hold their lead and possibly expand it in the House.  The presidential candidates have spent about $22 per vote yielded from online advertising. The next president has a lot to look forward to, new technologies will make it easier for him to kill.

• The transition of leadership in China, meanwhile, is happening under a total media blackout.
• A Utah man could face the death penalty for killing one officer and injuring five others in a botched drug raid. The man says police did not identify themselves and he thought his home was being invaded (which it was). Police say they didn't know anyone would be home and several officers neglected to wear bullet proof vests.
• A Peter Thiel fellow, along with a dozen others, is trying to build 50 tools needed to start civilization from the ground up.
• A suicide bomber at an Iraqi military base in Baghdad killed 27.
• A Pennsylvania man faces 25 years in prison for stealing lobsters.

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