FEB 5, 2007 - Long Bets is a banquet when it comes to food for thought. It's a place where registered users of the site can make predictions about "things that matter", vote and/or bet on those predictions, and discuss them. (Minimum bet is two hundred dollars, all proceeds to the charity of the winner's choice.) You do need to pay a fifty dollar fee to post a prediction, but you don't need to pay anything or be a registered user simply to read them, and that alone is fascinating: most of these are thoughtful, seasoned and well-reasoned propositions. I'm not so sure about the one regarding Brooke Shields getting Kennedy Center Honors for her "lifetime contributions to American culture through the performing arts" by 2018. With all respect to Ms. Shields, I don't see this as anything that matters in the sense of being "societally important" as mandated in the rules for Long Bets. But if it happens, let's all be happy for her, shall we?
