Hi Pete
Do you have to go through Google?
I use IE6 (though I had been experimenting with Mozilla Thunderbird),
and I connect directly to msnews.com as a mail service.
Most of my postings appear very quickly.
Occasionally, some posts don't appear as part of a thread, one just sees
"Re : Whatever ......." with no attachment to the original posting, but
in general I don't seem to experience anything like the problems you are
by going through Google.
I do use Google if I am searching for anything, but for normal reading
and answering, I just use IE6.