The Red Velvet Lawyer

The Last 18 Months: Transition Back to the US, Into Retirement, During a Pandemic In January 2021, Qatar University College of Law advised that it would apply the Qatari retirement cap of 65 years and not renew my contract.  QU had waved the retirement cap for two years.  Even so, the news made me very sad (and a bit angry).  I thoroughly enjoyed my time in Qatar and my job as a clinical professor of law teaching college-level law students.  I loved my expat friends, my students, and all of my QU faculty colleagues.   The news forced me to plan my move back to the US.  Before the pandemic started, I had planned to retire to Chiang Mai, Thailand, a northern university town, with an ancient moat, ring roads, and elephant rescue parks to the north in the mountains.    When the country closed its borders, I considered other countries that offered retirement visas without me having to return to the US to begin the process.  I looked at Malaysia and Ecuador, but the pandemic had slowed the v

A Surge in Cases, Hospitalizations, and Deaths: Tighter Restrictions Hope to Control the Variants  Qatar's rumor mill accurately predicted that officials would impose more restrictions in early April to combat rising infections, hospitalizations, and deaths as the UK and South African variants took hold in the Qatari population.   While many people predicted officials would impose a hard lock-down, instead, the restrictions look more like a Phase 1 or Phase 1.5 lock-down.  For comparison, see my discussion of  the Phase 1 re-opening beginning on May 31  here  and here , and for the Phase 2 re-opening here . My guess is they will keep these restrictions in place through Eid to prevent an even greater surge in cases.  Last year,  officials announced that they had the virus under control in May.  Then Ramadan started, and the country saw a surge of 45,000 cases.  It tool officials another six weeks of hard lock-down to get the pandemic back under control.  The Doha News revealed that

  Requests for Mindful Behavior  Gave Way to Imposed Restrictions My teaching schedule has made it more difficult to provide daily updates on the Qatar numbers. Accordingly,  I am providing the numbers for the first day of the month, the last day of the month, and then on each Thursday of the month. This comparison provides context and shows the dramatic rise in infections in the new year, apparently attributable to the arrival in Qatar of the variants of the virus, including the UK and South African variants.  These weekly numbers will suggest trends in infections, hospitalizations, and deaths.  Other entries will capture announcements and other developments in Qatar and around the world as countries scramble to get vaccines into the arms of citizens and residents. My social media feed shows the ongoing tension between the people asking for patience and resolve and those people showing economic, psychological, and emotional distress at the prospect of even greater restrictions that Qa