Feedback April 5, 2002January 25, 2017 IT WASN’T ROENTGEN, EITHER Lawrence Andraschko: ‘Actually, Nikola Tesla Discovered X-rays a full year before Wilhelm Konrad Roentgen. The first X-ray was a picture of the inner workings, (springs, shutter, screws) of a camera that was being used to take a picture of Mark Twain in Tesla’s lab in 1894. During 1895, dozens of x-rays were made in Tesla’s lab. An X-ray of Tesla’s foot and Mark Twain’s hand still survive. Unfortunately, Tesla’s lab burned down soon after, during experiments on liquefying gasses. When Roentgen announced his discovery on December 28th, 1895, Tesla immediately congratulated him – and sent him a few X-rays! The reply Roentgen sent to Tesla asking how they were made still exists.’ ☞ As usual, the most interesting parts of this column come from the readers. FLAT TAX FLAK Jan Colcom: ‘How long does it take you to do YOUR taxes? Or do you just delegate it all to a trusty accountant and affix your signature in 5 seconds?’ ☞ A week. But not because the tax rates are graduated. Bob Sanderson: ‘The flat tax is a dumb idea that I’m sure almost everyone would dismiss if they understood its dirty little secret: it requires almost every taxpayer to pay more taxes! You can argue that it would be cool if the government could be run on half as much revenue, but that’s a different subject entirely. An honest discussion of the flat tax requires that it raise the same amount of tax revenue as our current system. And since our current system is progressive, the only way to have a flat tax is to lower taxes for the wealthy, while raising them for everyone else. No wonder Steve Forbes is so in love with this concept!’ ☞ Precisely. Although I’m quite sure that Steve, being human (no, really!), has persuaded himself of nobler motivations. STUDENT LOAN CALCULATOR Jacki Stirn: ‘Look at this calculator. Its salary estimates are for Colorado, but I think it’s a great idea.’ THE TEACHER HAS ARRIVED For those who tuned in yesterday, it seems as if the teacher may have finally stepped in to stop the fighting. I’m keeping my fingers tightly crossed. Have a great weekend.