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In Friday's Opinion Exchange, Ahmed Tharwat flays critics of Qatar, host of this year's World Cup. As usual, Tharwat sees himself as a defender of Arab countries against hypocritical Westerners who attack Arab countries while ignoring the failings of, you guessed it, Western countries ("It's the West's hypocrisy that isn't so beautiful"). He asserts that "having a World Cup in an Arab country for the first time angers many people."

Tharwat has it wrong. No one really has a problem with an Arab country hosting. Like Qatar, all former hosts have been flawed in one way or another. Most of the serious criticism is leveled at Qatar's appalling treatment of workers imported to build the infrastructure for this event. In its role as host and chief contractor for this huge undertaking, Qatar has spent over $200 billion to build hotels and stadiums, among other required infrastructure projects. Since 2010, when the World Cup was awarded to Qatar, more than 6,000 lives have been lost in the frenzy of construction. These are foreign workers, and Qatar's track record with safety violations and indifference to these workers is well documented. And that is what the criticism is about. If a reporter (cited in his commentary) asks about Qatar's views on LGBTQ rights, Tharwat calls that Western hypocrisy. Is it? It's a fair question and one asked of "Western" countries that discriminate. That Qatar is an Arab country is totally irrelevant except, and without that absurd claim, Tharwat has no case to make.

Nonetheless, as in "Casablanca," Tharwat rounds up his usual suspects, notably the United States and France but neglects to scold Russia, the last host in 2018. Leaving no stone unturned, Tharwat even manages to drag in his "go to" culprit, Israel, which has never hosted and made it into the World Cup once, in 1970.

Tharwat's shoulders must be quite hunched. In all of his too frequently published and all too predictable rants on the opinion page, one senses the weight of a colossally big chip sitting there.

Josh Gruber, Minneapolis

Thank you to Marcos Odegard ("Ugly truth stains beautiful game in Qatar," Nov. 18) and Ahmed Tharwat for revealing in their respective commentaries what largely has gone unreported behind the scenes of the World Cup. I have been an avid soccer fan since playing the beautiful game in Denmark some 70 years ago as a teenager. FIFA, however, has let the cup, though hopefully not soccer itself, be tarnished not only by the appalling, unforgivable deaths of thousands of migrant workers in Qatar leading up to this event but also by bribes, coercion and vote-rigging over the years.

Members of the FIFA governing board as well as Qatar's government must be held accountable for preceding human rights violations and policies. If only teams before each match could spend a few moments of silence commemorating those who gave their lives to help host this quadrennial, worldwide sporting event.

Richard Laybourn, Bloomington

In the article "Not everyone wants more street lighting" (Nov. 21), Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey is proposing funds to improve lighting to increase safety for the public, which is needed. But this issue is not so simple. LED lights have a high amount of blue light compared to the older, yellowish sodium lights. Many European cities use amber lighting. There are many recommendations by various health professionals to limit blue light exposure, especially before bedtime (like that emitted by computers). If an LED light is outside a bedroom window, sleep will be disturbed. (Blackout curtains can always be used.) LEDs are even worse, causing an increase in light pollution affecting birds' migration and other city animals in other ways.

The knowledgeable experts recommend fixtures directing the light downward, and that would be a compromise for Minneapolis. Many cities are converting over to these fixtures already to decrease their light pollution and less wasted light going upward.

Jackie Calmes' mawkish commentary in the Star Tribune's Saturday edition ("Speaker Pelosi: the greatest of all time," Opinion Exchange), conveniently ignores Speaker Nancy Pelosi's infamous statement during the riots in 2020, when she called the federal troops, sent by then-President Donald Trump to protect federal courthouses in Portland and Seattle, "storm troopers." The GOAT (greatest of all time) is apparently ignorant of history and does not realize that "storm troopers" were Adolf Hitler's shock troops during the Third Reich, who destroyed synagogues and Jewish businesses in Germany, while rounding up Jews for extermination in the concentration camps. Does Calmes view such deplorable ignorance as part of the GOAT's praiseworthy legacy? And then of course there is no mention of the truly execrable performance by the GOAT during President Trump's last State of the Union address, when, while at the speaker's chair, the GOAT unceremoniously tore up the president's speech for the entire nation to witness. Surely such a cheap stunt did not elevate the position of speaker, enhance the reputation of Congress or help unite America.

Mercifully, the country will no longer have to endure the GOAT's disgraceful conduct after Jan. 3, 2023.

Mark R. Miller, Minneapolis

Congratulations to Gail Rosenblum on her well-earned retirement! ("Before signing off, thanks for the best career ever," Nov. 19). I've loved reading her pieces over the years. You know what they say: Retirement is when you leave the old age of youth and enter the youth of old age (well, truthfully, I don't know who "they" are, and/or if "they" really say that).

In a series Gail did years ago, "Duets," about unique friendships, she wrote the story of my unique and amazing friendship with Larry, my ex-husband-in-law. She and Jim Gehrz interviewed us at the Mall of America and did a cover story on us, which appeared on the front page of the Variety Section in June 2010, and included a wonderful photo, taken by Jim, of Larry and I on the rope ladder at the MOA's climbing attraction (I was the good-looking one in back).

I just thought Gail may be interested to know that her story caught the attention of some folks at StoryCorps (a nonprofit group that preserves and shares humanity's stories). They interviewed Larry and me, and now our story is preserved in the Library of Congress. Additionally, our story also has been included in a book by author Dave Isay, "Ties That Bind." And all because of you and your memorable story, Gail. Thank you, Gail, from both Larry and me.

Dennis Daniels, Eden Prairie

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Thank you, thank you, thank you, Gail Rosenblum! I couldn't agree more that we need more positive, solution-oriented news stories and that those should be front-page news. And thank you for giving me more ideas on where to look for inspiring news stories. Since the Star Tribune started publishing the Inspired section, I have eagerly looked forward to reading it every Saturday. Best wishes to her in this new chapter of life!