We lost another iconic voice in the world of cinema. Harold Ramis passed away early Monday morning, according to Ramis' wife Erica Mann Ramis and Chicago Tribune. Ramis will always be remembered for his directing/writing/acting in cult classics Stripes, Caddyshack, Animal House, Groundhog Day and The Real Ghostbusters. Ramis was 69.

Ramis, a longtime North Shore resident, was surrounded by family when he died at 12:53 a.m. from complications of autoimmune inflammatory vasculitis, a rare disease that involves swelling of the blood vessels, his wife Erica Mann Ramis said. He was 69.

Ramis’ serious health struggles began in May 2010 with an infection that led to complications related to the autoimmune disease, his wife said. Ramis had to relearn to walk but suffered a relapse of the vaculitis in late 2011, said Laurel Ward, vice president of development at Ramis’ Ocean Pictures production company.

Ramis' family, friends, colleagues and fans mourned his passing:

So sorry to hear about the death of Harold Ramis, a comedy master. Ghostbusters, Groundhog Day, and more.
— Steve Martin (@SteveMartinToGo) February 24, 2014

Harold Ramis, rest in peace. pic.twitter.com/vSB70NKzHC
— Laugh Factory (@thelaughfactory) February 24, 2014

R.I.P. Harold Ramis (1944 - 2014) pic.twitter.com/6JPynv2E9C
— History In Pictures (@HistoryInPics) February 24, 2014

In honor of Harold Ramis, I collect spores, molds and fungus (in my teeth).
— Stacey Nightmare (@STACEYNIGHTMARE) February 24, 2014

• Image courtesy of Shutterstock

Well, now you've done it, Center for Arizona Policy and the remaining Republican legislators who haven't had a change of thought - you've gone and pissed off Apple:

Corporate tech giant Apple has asked Gov. Jan Brewer to veto the controversial religious freedom bill SB1062, the company and the Governor’s Office confirmed.

Brewer spokesman Andrew Wilder said the governor spoke on the phone with the company.

The request comes as Apple prepares to open a new sapphire glass manufacturing plant in Mesa. The plant, which Brewer and other political leaders have touted as economic development coup for Arizona, will employ about 700 full-time employees.

Apple, of course, joins basically every other business organization in the state in voicing its opposition to the terrible legislation, which still awaits Brewer's presumed veto.

Morning radio host Jon Justice is a big fan of driving-a-car-around-in-circles guy Dale Earnhardt Jr., so yesterday was a solid day for Jon, as Earnhardt won the rain-delayed Daytona 500. I can imagine Justice posted this video on Youtube, capturing his reaction to the end of the race, for our collective amusement, so here you go.

This year's Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia has come to a close but not after providing us with thrilling competition and plenty of comical photos of this year's Sochi problems, which became a trending hash tag on social media before and during the games.

In case you missed the opening ceremony where the final ring of the Olympic symbol failed to open from a snowflake. The next day stories started surfacing that speculated the worker responsible for the snowflake malfunction was found dead and President Vladimir Putin ordered the hit. Russia mocked the screwup from the opening ceremony in the closing ceremony by purposely leaving the same ring closed before expanding it in a dramatic and comedic fashion, which received a warm response from the crowd.

"Who is this person?" I asked myself as I read Vicki Alger's op ed, Education improves when parents can bypass clueless bureaucrats, in today's Star. It segues from a diatribe against the U.S. Department of Education to a fact-challenged advocacy of vouchers into one of those states rights, 10th Amendment statements so popular on the far right. Who is this uninformed, unhinged character?

It's worse than I thought. Vicki Alger is actually a "very serious person" in the world of ed privatization: research fellow at the Independent Institute (a libertarian organization with lots of money and questionable integrity), former director of the Goldwater Institute's Center for Educational Opportunity and on and on. Oh, and she sits on the board of BASIS charter schools in Chandler and Phoenix. Alger is widely published and according to her blurb, working on a book about the U.S. Dept. of Ed. Meaning she's a cog in the vast, well funded "education reform"/privatization/corporatization machine, where facts are optional and research begins with the conclusion and works back to the data.

Let's take a walk through some of Alger's statements in the op ed.

Although I guess I can't really blame them, the Center for Arizona Policy's PR campaign on behalf of SB 1062 has largely been in "rally the troops" mode following Cathi Herrod's not-so-well-received appearance on CNN Friday, with Communications Director Aaron Baer taking the lead on Phoenix's conservative talk station KTAR and elsewhere to discuss the bill and how mean everyone is being about it.

Along those lines, Baer is guest hosting an hour of radio on Faith Talk 1360 in Phoenix today (Monday) from 2 to 3 pm. The station streams online and CAP's Facebook page promises that the appearance will be an opportunity to hear answers to "some of the most common questions we're hearing about the bill" and an explanation of "why Arizona needs SB 1062." Should be a good time.

The U.S. Supreme Court today announced it would not hear arguments regarding an Arizona law that sought to strip funding from Planned Parenthood for health-care programs unrelated to abortion services. As the Weekly explained when the law was struck down in federal court in February 2013:

The 2012 law sought to prevent women on the state's AHCCCS program or other state-assisted programs from using Planned Parenthood's clinics for any of their health-care needs—birth control, cancer screenings, STD treatment and the like.

The case largely rested on whether Planned Parenthood was "qualified" to provide the services. Federal law says that the state can't discriminate against qualified providers when deciding how to spend federal Medicaid funds. The new state law, passed during the 2012 session, declared that any organization that provided abortion services was not considered a "qualifed" provider.

Planned Parenthood sued, arguing that the state couldn't determine qualifications on that basis. It's a case that abortion opponents are making in other states. So far, they're losing in federal court.

Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne appealed, despite the precedents that suggested that the law could not stand up to constitutional review. The state lost again at the U.S. Circuit Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and the U.S. Supreme Court announced today that it would not hear Arizona's final appeal of the law.

Planned Parenthood Arizona President and CEO Bryan Howard called the Supreme Court's decision "a victory for Arizona women and their families."

“The men and women of this state have the right to see the health care provider they deem is best for them," Howard said in a prepared statement. "Thousands of low-income women rely on Planned Parenthood for breast and cervical cancer screenings, birth control, and other basic health care. Politics should never interfere with a woman’s access to vital services."

I guess we know where Senator John McCain stands on SB 1062. Senator McCain tweeted this message to Governor Jan Brewer:

I hope Governor Brewer will veto #SB1062
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 24, 2014

U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel will unveil his plan to drastically cut the military budget by billions of dollars later this afternoon. Hagel is going to have a tough time convincing lawmakers to approve a budget and cut troop levels military hasn't seen since pre-World War II.

The proposal calls for the Army to be cut to about 450,000 troops, down from a peak of 570,000 after the Sept. 11 attacks. Troop levels were already slated to drop to 480,000 — but now even more are on the chopping block.

Hagel also wants to eliminate the fleet of A-10 "tank killer" aircraft, designed in the 1970s to go after targets on the ground. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., whose husband was an A-10 pilot, has already vowed to fight plans to retire the plane.

Also slated for retirement is the U-2 spy plane, the stalwart of Cold War reconnaissance. The military is turning to new methods of surveillance, like the Global Hawk.

Bill Buckmaster has an education-heavy lineup for his Monday show, at noon on KVOI, 1030 AM on your radio dial (It streams live online as well). The first half is a regular Face-off feature with Jeff Rogers and Bruce Ash, two men who never need to be told, "Say what you mean." They'll be talking about SB 1062, the Turn Away The Gays bill, and Common Core.

I'll be on the second half doing my more-or-less-monthly Blogger Beat segment. Bill and I will talk mainly about education, though I never know what else will come up.