> newsgroups...
> Am I missing something?

Yes.

1) Unless a newsgroup is moderated, flame wars will soon erupt and you'll
get the Golf rolling speaker crowd doing drive-by trolls, ads for mail
order brides, and lots of other unsavory stuff.

2) Newsgroups are regularly scanned by spambots looking for live addresses
to send you more offers on how to get rich quick, x-rated sites, etc.

Karl and Kristina Bloss, Trexlertown, PA
'87 Westfalia Weekender  "Beverley" - 188K miles
VW Mechanic list: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/vwshops
Busses by the Trail - Oct 15-17, 1999: http://www.enter.net/~bloss/vw/bbtt
PA/NJ Vanagon owner's mailing list: http://www.onelist.com/subscribe/pavanagon