On 8/8/2011 2:48 PM, hr(bob) wrote:
I haven't seen any new postings since Aug 1 on stealing copper piping/
wiring. I checked on a friend's computer with a different login and
id and they are having the same problem.

It's the fault of Google Groups, which you have been using to access
and read Usenet newsgroups. Google's service has been spotty over the
past several weeks. If you Google Groups users want consistent access
to Usenet newsgroups, dump Google Groups, subscribe to an actual
Usenet news server, and configure a newsreader client to subscribe to
and read the Usenet newsgroups of your choice.

A couple of popular free news servers are aioe.org and
eternal-september.org. You can configure Thunderbird or Outlook
Express as newsreaders to read and post to alt.home.repair and other
Usenet newsgroups. It's really not too complicated to do, and once
you've got it set up, you will no longer be victim to Google's whims.

For instructions on how to subscribe and configure a news reader, visit

http://www.aioe.org/index.php?quickstart-guide

or

http://www.eternal-september.org/