Fifty years ago, beginning April 17, 1961, the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency—using Cuban exile air and ground forces—tried unsuccessfully to invade Cuba and spark an uprising against President Fidel Castro.

MAN, THIS IS TRIPPY: Replanting ancient forests to save the planet may sound like a Rainbow Family wet dream, but that’s what the nonprofit Archangel Ancient Tree Archive is attempting, according to Associated Press environmental writer John Flesher.

LEGISLATIVE GREEN UPDATE: Once again we welcome Adam Snyder of Conservation Alabama for a biweekly update regarding the status of ecorelated bills under consideration in the current session of the Alabama legislature.

Pink Box Burlesque will present "Pink Box Burlesque Celebrates the 1920s" at the Bama Theatre in Tuscaloosa, Friday, March 25, at 8:30 p.m. According to a news release from the Tuscaloosa-based troupe, the 1920s are "the decade that gave us women's suffrage, prohibition, tassels and the heyday of traditional vaudeville."

IT GETS WORSE: First Japan endured a massive earthquake, then a tsunami, then a crisis with the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant that is unresolved at press time.

From my fevered mind, Dear Reader, spring forth these oh-so Immodest Proposals like torpedoes of truth. Yes, some call my proposals wacky. Let them.

LEGISLATIVE ECO-UPDATE: Green Briefs welcomes Adam Snyder, executive director of Conservation Alabama, for a series of biweekly updates regarding the status of eco-related bills in the Alabama legislature.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG: Ah, yes, spring is here, bringing warm weather, flowering bushes, crippling pollen and, of course, the constant, nagging fear that a bad-ass tornado will come along and take you for an unscheduled flight with Dorothy and Toto.

RISING BODY COUNT: Dozens of dead dolphins have been found this year on Alabama and Mississippi Gulf beaches, causing some experts to wonder if there is a connection between the deaths and the Gulf oil spill last year.

THIS CAN’T BE GOOD: The deaths of baby dolphins have increased sharply this year along the Alabama and Mississippi Gulf Coast, according to Karen Nelson of The Sun Herald in Gulfport, Miss.