Happy Holidays-- A blog is born!

Well, it has been suggested to us by everyone from local tabloid bloggers on down to the sweetest, well-meaning Random Times reader-- and so here it is-- the birth of our blog!

Our latest issue has gotten a lot of attention, both negative and positive-- based entirely on the cover:



Am I worried about it?

Not at all.

This is an alternative paper, and a lot of bitching, slobbering, and whimpering from the conservative-types just kind of comes along with the territory.

It never ceases to amaze me that some groups of people feel that alternative voices should not be allowed to be heard.

If you're concerned about our cover, and what we were trying to accomplish by printing it, I'll tell you this:

Our artists have creative control over their work.

We don't believe in stifling them or peering over their shoulders.

When we tell them that they have conceptual control over the cover-- we mean it.

We would really only step in if the concept went far beyond the boundaries of taste, or was of a racist nature.

In terms of tastelessness, though, there's a lot of room for interpretation. My idea of what is tasteless might be different than yours.

So who, in terms of the Random Times, determines what is tasteless and what is not?

I do.

And personally, I don't feel that Jesus wearing a Santa cap is tasteless.

It's an additional statement to a debate that has been underway for a long, long time-- the over-commercialization of the Christmas holiday. It's about the muddled lines between Christ and Santa Claus. It's about the confusion surrounding what the hell the holiday is supposed to mean anymore.

Some people might feel alienated from the issue, at first glance at the paper-- and that cannot be helped.

A publication cannot appeal to everyone.

Golf magazines and Christian papers don't appeal to ME.

But do you see me bitching about their existence? No.

Their voice is constitutionally protected. And printing their paper is a protected right.

And I will stand for their rights just as quickly as I will stand for my own.

And in the future issues of the Random Times, you're going to see a lot of covers that are very tame, and in no way are controversial.

But then... you might also see some that you think are tasteless.

And all that we at Random Times can do, is hope that even if people don't pick the paper up, based on its cover, that they can still celebrate our constitutional right to have a voice.

Peace to all.

James Mongold
R. T. Founder