America

Roberto Pagan-Franco didn't have a bank account for decades. His employer paid him in cash or with a check that the Baltimore resident took to a check-cashing store. A few years ago he lost his job after a severe illness and for a time was homeless. Not exactly the type of customer you'd expect a big bank to court. But Pagan-Franco enrolled in a PNC Bank program that targets consumers who otherwise might be shut out of the banking system. And today, the 54-year-old has checking and savings accounts at PNC and is in the process of getting a credit card.

Did you hear about the new bill that would allow the U.S. government's official overseas information agency to rebroadcast its content onto American TV and radio? The bipartisan Smith-Mundt Modernization Act of 2012 was introduced in Congress last week by Reps. Mac Thornberry, a Texas Republican, and Adam Smith, a Washington Democrat, both of whom are presumably dissatisfied with their satellite TV package and think more government-produced content would go down better with an after-work beer.

If all goes as planned, sometime this morning a spacecraft will blast off from its launchpad in Cape Canaveral, Fla., and ride a fiery plume of contrails upward through the pre-dawn darkness to begin a two-week journey to the International Space Station and back. But the flight won't be just another NASA resupply mission. Instead, the Falcon 9 rocket and its unmanned Dragon cargo capsule built by Space Exploration Technologies Corporation - SpaceX for short - will be the first commercially owned and operated vehicle ever to rendezvous with the station's orbiting astronauts.

"America's Got Talent" is in New York for a second night. Howard Stern brought his parents along. They look like a sweet old couple, but according to Howard, they've been complaining about waiting in the auditorium for the past two hours. First to audition is a singer/dancer named Ronald Charles. I can already tell his act isn't going to be pretty; his turquoise leggings and weird haircut are dead giveaway. I'm right. He's so awful, Howard gets his dad (who is conveniently equipped with a microphone)

I DON'T want any privilege for myself or my family that other people do not have. It makes me uneasy in my conscience to have opportunities that are denied to other people."

America has suddenly become aware that there is a trade problem with China ("Export policy No. 1: getting China to play by the rules," Sept. 21). Once again, who could have predicted it? The American public is an addict. China is our supplier and the big discount chain stores are the dealers. We are addicted to easy money and bargain prices. The problem is that now we recognize that this is killing us and we want out of the arrangement. Whatever the solution, when an addict and his supplier break up, somebody is going to get hurt.

You wrote in your editorial "Fresh start in Iraq" (Dec. 27): "Nine months after Iraqis went to the polls in national parliamentary elections last spring, the country's squabbling political factions finally reached a deal this week to allow a new government to take office... " I suggest penning a similar editorial titled "Fresh start in America," which could easily be published with very few changes. It would read: "[Two] months after [Americans] went to the polls in national elections last [fall]

It is with disgust that I put down The Sun after reading Ron Smith's column ("Norway murder compounded by ineptitude," July 29). Scandinavia seems to be one of the few places on the planet not fueled by violence. Perhaps those nations have some lessons to share with our country. Open any daily newspaper or listen to any newscast in the U.S. and your senses are pounded with the violence prevalent in every city and state. Our country is a laughing stock as our elected officials behave like spoiled adolescents for all the world to witness.

Here's a brief reminder to the president and members of Congress: It is not about you, or your party. It is about the U.S., and we the people of this country. Reid Hill, Catonsville

The problems facing our government today have never been more serious, the issues never more complicated, the situation never more dangerous, and the solutions never simpler. The critical issue is neither Republican nor Democratic but a problem for all Americans. The "Gang of Six" after months of working together have produced a comprehensive plan to address the deficit. It may not be perfect, but it is a good starting point. Mr. President, Baltimore just laid to rest its best ever mayor with a flourish.

The search for America's next greatest talent continues in New York.  First up is The Flyte Cru, who I guess you could call basketball stunts-men. They use trampolines to do all sorts of somersaults as they shoot hoops. Their act is pretty entertaining, but I feel like I've seen it before, so I'm not very impressed. Judge Howie Mandel thinks the same thing and gives them a “no.” New judge Howard Stern has been surprisingly kind this season; he continues that streak and says he wants to see Flyte Cru move on to next round.

Calvert Hall and Gilman each have three boys on the South roster for this summer's Under Armour All-America Lacrosse Classic, leading the way among local teams. Below is the full roster for the South, which will face the North All-Americans on June 30 at Towson's Johnny Unitas Stadium. For full boys and girls rosters, click here .   2012 SOUTH BOYS ALL-AMERICA TEAM Name Hometown High School Position College AthleteBio Luke Aaron Great Falls, VA Deerfield Goalie Duke Athlete Bio *Brent Armstrong Falls Church, VA St. Stephen's & St. Agnes Midfield North Carolina Athlete Bio Ryan Brown Sykesville, MD Calvert Hall Attack Johns Hopkins Athlete Bio Deemer Class Hunt Valley, MD Loyola Midfield Duke Athlete Bio Evan Connell Lutherville, MD Calvert Hall Defense North Carolina Athlete Bio *Matt Florence Greenwood Village, CO Kent Denver Midfield Virginia Athlete Bio Connor Frisina Berwyn, PA Conestoga Attack Delaware Athlete Bio Brendan Gaughan Carlsbad, CA La Costa Canyon Attack Michigan Athlete Bio Ryan Guittare Garnet Valley, PA Garnet Valley Defense...

Because two hours of auditions last night weren't enough, the "America's Got Talent" season 7 premiere continued into Tuesday night. Tonight, we're in San Francisco, so naturally Nick Cannon has to introduce the show by yelling atop the Golden Gate Bridge (last night, he yelled ferociously atop a desert mesa). San Francisco Auditions First up: David and the CMYK's, an aptly named group. They somehow manage to break dance to some Mozart while beautifully painting a huge canvas with the composer's face.

The Potomac River, which flows between Maryland and Virginia, was named the nation's "most endangered" waterway today by a Washington-based environmental group. American Rivers put the Potomac atop its annual list of endangered rivers.  Though cleaner than it used to be, the "nation's river," so named because it flows through Washington, D.C., still faces threats from urban and agricultural pollution, the group says, and from cutbacks being pushed in Congress of federal environmental regulations.

I will admit it, I came to the season premiere of "America's Got Talent" to rip Howard Stern. But I walk away after two hours with nothing but admiration for Stern and the producers of this potent franchise. And I'm not simply praising AGT as a slick or skilled production. "America's Got Talent" connects with some of the deepest currents of American life today. For all its sideshow, freakshow silliness and weirdness  at times, it also speaks to a huge slice of American life that our politicians don't seem to know or care about one little bit any more as they move from fund raiser to fund raiser and TV studio to soundstage in their cocoons of media and million-dollar isolation from the masses.

The sizzle echoed through the halls of the Center of Applied Technology North in Severn, emanating from the school's culinary arts baking and pastry lab, where it was joined by a tempting aroma. Normally, a restaurant kitchen would be responsible for such sounds and smells, but this day it was students and the Culinary Institute of America. Former staff from the Culinary Institute of America were instructing students as part of "Teaching with the CIA," a day of culinary education for Washington-area students interested in careers in the food service and hospitality industry.

I agree with the basic premises of Jay Hancock's article in the Dec. 26 edition of The Sun relative to the government's failure to plan ahead ( "This decade, let's focus on the future for a change" . He stresses the "...need to focus government and business alike on the next decade, not the next election or quarter" and indicates a "...need for the right government rules to make it work: property rights, courts, national defense (and)...

In his article, "Arizona silences a painful history," (May 16) Leonard Pitts Jr. uses the word "culture" incorrectly. As H. George Hahn II, an English professor and director of the master's in humanities program at Towson University, wrote in The Baltimore Sun on May 18, 2004: "America may be multiethnic, but it is not multicultural. For the better of all hyphenated Americans, starting with the language, it is an English culture." Professor Hahn emphasizes that "Diversity is not the most important truth about America.

You did a write up on HBO's documentary "The Weight of the Nation" in which you called our obesity epidemic a wake up call for America ("Salad bars take root," May 1). Nothing new here. The alarm bells have been sounding for a while now. I am an endocrinologist, and 90 percent of my patients are obese or near obese. This is a frustrating problem for doctors. There are no rewards for treating obesity. It is well known among physicians that a diagnosis code of obesity on your insurance claim can get you rejected for payment.