Is it better to be a Thai prisoner than an El Monte city employee?

While a current San Gabriel Valley Tribune article notes that tonight's El Monte City Council meeting will honor an Olympic skeet shooter, the article fails to note that the meeting's public comment period affords an opportunity to ask why the 14 El Monte lifeguards are NOT being reinstated.

As I noted in the previous posts linked above, everyone thought last month that the El Monte lifeguards were going to be reinstated. According to the lifeguards, it's not happening.

Manuel Carmona with HR stated that Human Resources and the city manager's office agreed that the city WILL NOT BE ISSUING REINSTATEMENT LETTERS. Lifeguards have the option to resign now; however, HR is asking that resignation letters are dated today, but also state that the "effective" date of resignation be Sept. 5th (the date of our termination). Any lifeguards who want to go back to work will be reinstated if and only if they are recommended back by the independent investigator.


Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, a recent Associated Press article reminds us that the Thai Navy did their own Gangnam Style parody - and no sailors were fired as a result.

However, that wasn't the only point of the AP article, which I am not quoting myself because I don't want to get in trouble. (You know how the AP is.) But the AP mentioned that Thai prisoners were competing in a Gangnam Style dance contest. Stress relief and fitness were cited as reasons for the prison officials sponsoring the contest.

Well, aren't these people supposed to be fit also? Why are they being subjected to such stress?