Plea for information

I would be interested in learning more about the politics and mathematics of cryptography, but my site does not have access to a newsreader. As I am new to the Net, I am not aware of any acceptable way around this, which will allow me to read and contribute to the cypherpunk and related newsgroups - please can you help me out on this matter. Also, I would like to know how best to understand cryptography - I have a textbook on the basic mathematical concepts underlying the techniques but it is too advanced for my current knowledge in this field (A-level - ie. end of high school), please can you suggest a good starting place for me. Thanks in advance for your assistance, Daniel Rees