Limitless is the kind of serviceable if not terribly inventive thriller that usually hits theaters in the couple months preceding the summer blockbuster season. Bradley Cooper plays a slacker writer who, for reasons that remain inexplicable, has landed a book deal. One small complication: he can’t focus enough to actually start writing it. In one of those twists of fate that are the bread and butter of thrillers like this, Eddie just happens to run into his skeevy former brother-in-law, who just happens to be in possession of a pill that dramatically increases the brain power of the user. Dubious yet desperate, Eddie later ingests the pill. Suddenly, everything snaps into focus. Writing is effortless. Math is easy. He gets laid after some clever verbal sparring with his landlord’s girlfriend. He gets a haircut.

You can probably figure out where the story goes from there. Despite the fame and fortune that follow, Eddie is soon reminded that drugs are bad, m’kay? But not before he entangles himself with a crazy Russian mobster and a shrewd billionaire investor (Robert De Niro in an uncharacteristically restrained performance). One of these entanglements will be resolved in one of the film’s few gross-out moments, a sure sign that a movie is just trying too hard. Still, it’s entertaining and briskly plotted. You could do worse at the multiplex.

MPR examines how Minnesota’s recent expansion of Medical Assistance is helping low-income people in rural areas get better access to health care. The previous state health care program for the poor required people to get medical care at one of a few locations in the Twin Cities. Since most people living in poverty don’t have access to transportation, the rural poor were effectively denied access to health care unless they went to an emergency room (thanks, Governor Pawlenty!). And even then, they would often be saddled with medical bills they simply couldn’t pay. Now, they can access clinics and other health care providers close to home. As I’ve said countless times before, elections matter.

It’s also worth noting that a lot of public workers have worked long hours to ensure that our fellow Minnesotans get the health care they need.

The Times is running a somber but fascinating piece on the skeleton crew of anonymous technicians who are struggling to prevent a complete meltdown at the quake-stricken Fukushima nuclear facility in japan. Many of these technicians are risking radiation poisoning or death by remaining on the job. That kind of professional dedication might be the only thing standing between the people of Japan and catastrophe. Let’s hope their efforts to contain the meltdown are successful and that they live long enough to recount these dark days to their grandchildren.

This video of swaying skyscrapers in downtown Tokyo during today’s earthquake is both terrifying and amazing. If not for the ingenuity of Japanese engineers, tens of thousands of people would likely have died. They could teach us a thing or two about investing in infrastructure.

Let’s just hope that same ingenuity can prevent the northern half of Japan from becoming a fallout zone.

Wisconsin Republicans just upped the ante in their fight to strip collective bargaining rights from public unions. In a devious bit of parliamentary maneuvering, Republicans stripped the anti-union provisions out of the “budget repair” bill and placed them in a standalone bill. Since the standalone bill has no budget implications, it can be passed in the absence of the Wisconsin state senators who decamped to Illinois to deny the Republicans a quorum.

This latest move undermines the Republicans’ talking point that the collective bargaining provisions are needed to balance the budget. The real goal has always been to destroy unions as a political force in the state. Governor Walker and his allies may finally get their way, but this very public battle has revealed their true intentions. They are determined to transform Wisconsin into a state where the interests of corporations reign supreme while workers in both the public and private sectors are slapped around by the unforgiving invisible hand of the free market.

It’s important to remember that this is what Wisconsin voters chose. Walker and his ilk made no secret of their contempt for organized labor and a host of other Democratic constituencies, including the poor and people with disabilities. If they don’t like watching their state being transformed into a Randian utopia, they should have considered that possibility on Election Day. Perhaps the lesson to be learned from all this is that every election matters, not just the ones where we choose a president.