Package Management not communicating / Google Analytics Dashboard Tools not communicating

Hi everyone,
I have a MODX install that is giving me a problem that I've never had before. I also am not very well versed in server side settings, and the hosting partner do not understand MODX, so I am a bit in a pickle here.

Package Management is not able to communicate with the underlying MODX server. I get the following error when I try to search through Package Management:

"An error occurred while connecting to the Provider: MODX received a blank response from the provider. Please double check your service URL and make sure the provider is a valid provider."

I also attempted to install Big Brother and the other various Google Analytics Dashboard Plugins and all cannot connect with Google during the validation process.

I am thinking that both issues could be related as they have to do with communicating to an external server.

This install is Revo 2.2.14, PHP 5.3.3 allow_url_fopen: on allow_url_include: off, curl enabled, mysql 5.0.95.

The server requirements were sent to the IT department before we installed and everything else checked out and the migration went ok.

Are there any server gurus out there that could give me a hint?

Cheers