I'm Howie Arthur "Whitey" Kalish. I was tagged with the moniker "Whitey" by an acquaintance because although I have a leonine, thick head of hair, it turned frosty 'fore I was forty. I was born on January 29th, 1958 in New York City, New York, United States of America. I'm proud to be an authentic genuine "native New Yorker" and a "river rat", having been born and raised in the northernmost Manhattan neighborhoods of Washington Heights and Inwood, on the eastern banks of the majestic Hudson River, one of this country's great waterways. I have a General Equivalency H.S. Diploma (GED) from Board of Regents of University of the State of New York, issued to me in December 1975. I have also completed coursework at Androscoggin College in Maine, and the School and Seminary System for Sacred Studies. I'm a Consumer of Long Term Care Services and Supports (LTCSS) as a Nursing Home Resident at Beth Abraham in the Bronx, New York, USA and have been a Consumer of LTCSS here at Beth Abraham and in other LTC settings since July 2007. I'm also the Founder and Executive Director of the Long Term Care Consumer Intelligence Agency. We were founded and we are nationally headquartered in New York City, New York, USA. We are a benevolent, non-profit and private brash and impertinent young "wet-behind-the-ears" upstart non-governmental organization, at the service of the public interest, with a truly "catholic", "fundamentalist" and "radical" (in the historical sense of these three words) focus and perspective. The tireless words of encouragement and endorsement from good friends like you serve as an inspiration for the choice of our "second act" in lifework. Today, we stand committed, without apology or reservation, for our signature causes of Consumer Choices and Preferences for Long Term Care, Culture Change in Long Term Care, Consumer Directed Long Term Care, Consumer Rights of Access to Quality Long Term Care Services and Supports, and Applied Gerontechnology.