The notion of California dreamin’ is poised to reach a whole new level with the state’s first home made out of hemp. The owners of the ruins of Knapp’s Castle in Santa Barbara plan to begin building a home out of a sustainable construction material called Hempcrete, a mixture of hemp, lime, and water.
Hemp makes a good building material because it’s extremely energy-efficient, non-toxic, and resistant to mold, insects, and fire. Plus, it absorbs carbon dioxide, making it good for the environment. Hemp Technologies, a North Carolina-based construction company working on the California project, already has built homes out of hemp in Hawaii, Texas, North Carolina, and Idaho. The North Carolina project, known as “NauHaus,” received LEED platinum status.
“We got started about 3 years ago and I was looking for sustainable building products. [Co-founder Greg Flavall] was in Europe, found Hempcrete and we basically did a tour of Europe and looked at everything that they had done in the U.K., France, Belgium, and Switzerland,” says co-founder David Madera. “We did our first seminar in 2009, and it was the most important thing that helped promote it.”
The one major hurdle standing between Madera and the dream of entire neighborhoods made of hemp? Growing the plant is illegal in most states. Because industrial hemp comes from Cannabis sativa, the same plant species that produces marijuana and contains traces of tetrahydrocannabinal—the active ingredient that makes marijuana a federally banned drug—industrial hemp production has long been prohibited. In Santa Barbara, city officials haven’t decide whether to allow the building process to proceed.
While Madera admits gaining approval from local officials has been far from easy, he’s confident that the benefits of hemp building will win out in the end. “I think California will fall into the fold,” he says. “I think it’s a national movement. We plan on taking the country by storm.”
Reddit user Girlfriendhatesmefor’s three-year-old pitbull, Otis, had recently become overprotective of his wife. So he asked the online community if they knew what might be wrong with the dog.
“A week or two ago, my wife got some sort of stomach bug,” the Reddit user wrote under the subreddit /r/dogs. “She was really nauseous and ill for about a week. Otis is very in tune with her emotions (we once got in a fight and she was upset, I swear he was staring daggers at me lol) and during this time didn’t even want to leave her to go on walks. We thought it was adorable!”
His wife soon felt better, butthe dog’s behavior didn’t change.
Girlfriendhatesmefor began to fear that Otis’ behavior may be an early sign of an aggression issue or an indication that the dog was hurt or sick.
So he threw a question out to fellow Reddit users: “Has anyone else’s dog suddenly developed attachment/aggression issues? Any and all advice appreciated, even if it’s that we’re being paranoid!”
The most popular response to his thread was by ZZBC.
Any chance your wife is pregnant?
ZZBC | Reddit
The potential news hit Girlfriendhatesmefor like a ton of bricks. A few days later, Girlfriendhatesmefor posted an update and ZZBC was right!
“The wifey is pregnant!” the father-to-be wrote. “Otis is still being overprotective but it all makes sense now! Thanks for all the advice and kind words! Sorry for the delayed reply, I didn’t check back until just now!”
Redditors responded with similar experiences.
Anecdotal I know but I swear my dog knew I was pregnant before I was. He was super clingy (more than normal) and was always resting his head on my belly.
realityisworse | Reddit
So why do dogs get overprotective when someone is pregnant?
Jeff Werber, PhD, president and chief veterinarian of the Century Veterinary Group in Los Angeles, told Health.com that “dogs can also smell the hormonal changes going on in a woman’s body at that time.” He added the dog may “not understand that this new scent of your skin and breath is caused by a developing baby, but they will know that something is different with you—which might cause them to be more curious or attentive.”
The big lesson here is to listen to your pets and to ask questions when their behavior abruptly changes. They may be trying to tell you something, and the news may be life-changing.
Throughout history, women have stood up and fought to break down barriers imposed on them from stereotypes and societal expectations. The trailblazers in these photos made history and redefined what a woman could be. In doing so, they paved the way for future generations to stand up and continue to fight for equality.
While conspiracy theories are not limited to any topic, there is one type of event that seems particularly likely to spark them: mass shootings, typically defined as attacks in which a shooter kills at least four other people.
When one person kills many others in a single incident, particularly when it seems random, people naturally seek out answers for why the tragedy happened. After all, if a mass shooting is random, anyone can be a target.
