How much was Mary Rowlandson actually ransomed for?

Mary Rowlandson was captured in 1675 by the Wampanoag Indians and held captive for three months. Her husband paid her ransom of 20£. This made me wonder exactly how much she was ransomed for, so that is my question. How much was Rowlandson actually ransomed for? According to http://www.unitconversion.org/currency/british-pounds-to-us-dollars-conversion.html today 20£ would be worth about $31.63 US dollars. Today, however, one US dollar is worth 0.63£. That is not very much considering how much our US dollar has diminished in value over the years. After I found out how much Rowlandson would've been worth today, I began to wonder how much she was really worth in 1675. While I was doing research on that, I realized that there were no US dollars around in 1675. So, I found on http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_the_value_of_a_1675_British_Penny that a 1675 British Penny would be worth 12-100£ today, and that would equal about $18.98-$158.13. I am not sure exactly what that means about how much she was really ransomed for, but a 1675 British penny would be worth a lot today! So, what I found was Rowlandson's husband paid the equivalent of $31.63 to get his wife back.
 

Necessary Evils

Thomas Paine stated in Common Sense "Society in every state is a blessing, but Government, even in its best state, is a necessary evil; in its worst state, an intolerable one." With this being said, I began to wonder what other things would be considered "necessary evils." So my question is just that, What are some things that are considered "necessary evils" today? According to http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6084.html, conducting layoffs at work places are necessary evils. Sometimes there are too many people and not enough money to go around, so the managers just have to do it. A really interesting quote I found on that website was "We define a necessary evil as a work-related task that requires a person to cause physical, emotional, or material harm to another human being in order to advance a perceived greater good." This article was really interesting because it talked about how we tend to focus on the emotions of the person being laid off and not so much on the person who is having to carry it out. To put a necessary evil into easier terms to understand, I found the definition at http://www.englishclub.com/ref/esl/Idioms/N/a_necessary_evil_208.htm. According to that website, a necessary evil is defined as something you do not necessarily like but you understand that is has to be accepted sometimes or it has to exist. The example they used was "Sandra says money is a necessary evil. She thinks it causes many problems, but she can't imagine how the world could work without it." One thing I found particularly funny was an article from Marie Claire magazine entitled "5 Necessary Evils to Compete in the Dating World." http://www.marieclaire.com/sex-love/men/necessary-evils-dating-world This article was talking to men about how to find a girl. The necessary evils were 1. Going to the gym, 2. Cleanliness and hygiene, 3. Intelligence, 4. Income, and 5. Effort. This was funny because those are things you should probably do on a regular basis! In general, this blog probably has nothing to do with Thomas Paine other than what he said about necessary evils, but I took that and looked more into it. 

How do people get their points of views across to others?

Jonathan Edwards constantly campaigned to win sinners' souls to Christ by scaring them into salvation. This made me think of all of the ways that celebrities and other people or companies get their points across to viewers. So, my question is: How do people get their points of views across to others?  I have split points of views into four groups: Christ, Getting fit, Finding the perfect someone, and Finding a cure. First of all, many people have tried to persuade others to Christ. http://www.christianpost.com/news/tim-tebow-praises-tom-brady-and-jesus-christ-66990/ Today, Tim Tebow is probably the first person that anyone thinks of. He is a true man of God who shows his love by putting scriptures on his eye blacks and "Tebows" (kneels and prays with a fist on his forehead).(This second picture shows my brother and some other high school boys from our church "Tebowing" on a youth trip in Gatlinburg this past January).  As for getting fit, there are many ways to do it. Jenny Craig and Weight Watchers have commercials on TV constantly. They offer different ways to lose weight with different options of food. http://www.livestrong.com/article/38863-jenny-craig-vs.-weight-watchers/ The most common commercial today for Jenny Craig is seen at this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kZL3qjTSb00 Michelle Obama is very involved with how the country gets fit. I believe that she is convinced that everyone is overweight and needs to get into shape. This is not necessarily true, what about those that are actually fit or underweight? That is all beside the point, but Mrs. Obama has traveled the country helping kids get fit by dancing and doing things like a Platypus Walk. http://www.letsmove.gov/ Since its so close to Valentine's day, dating sites like eHarmony, match.com, and christianmingle.com are set on helping you find that perfect someone! If you would like to know exactly how dating sites rank, visit http://www.top10bestdatingsites.com/?kw=dating%2520site%2520reviews&c=9362027227&t=search&p=&m=e&adpos=1t1&a=1&gclid=CKOE78C7ma4CFRBW7AodS2Ut4Q. One site that I did not see was christianmingle.com, their commercials always make me laugh, but I will let you have your own personal opinions on that by watching this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBqEd7JWLoY. Finally, on to those commercials that everyone always changes the channels for, those showing animal abuse, children with cancer, or starving children in Africa. I will not post any videos because they make me sad. St. Jude Children's Research Hospital is dedicated to giving children with life threatening diseases proper treatment that is of no cost to the parents if their insurance covers it. http://www.stjude.org/stjude/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=f87d4c2a71fca210VgnVCM1000001e0215acRCRD The ASPCA has the most moving commercials in my opinion because they show animals with the worst beatings or scars and have the heartfelt music playing in the background. The starving children in Africa seem fake to  me honestly. I know that there are starving children, but why not bring them to America to be adopted instead of asking me to call a 1-800 number to donate so much money to possibly get a picture of a child that they say is starving? That is also beside the point, but I sometimes like to voice my opinions. In conclusion, there are many ways that companies or individuals get their points across to viewers. A few of the categories for points of views are Christ, getting fit, finding the perfect someone, and finding a cure.