[R] problem with chooseCRANmirror()

[Perry Macdonald]

I get this error when using chooseCRANmirror().

 > chooseCRANmirror()
Error in open.connection(file, "r") : unable to open connection
In addition: Warning message:
unable to connect to 'cran.r-project.org' on port 80.
 >


The TclTk window comes up and I can scroll and select a mirror, but it 
doesn't appear that I can connect properly. I am using RedHat Enterprise.

I also can't connect to download the "akima" package


 > install.packages("akima")
--- Please select a CRAN mirror for use in this session ---
Error in open.connection(file, "r") : unable to open connection
In addition: Warning message:
unable to connect to 'cran.r-project.org' on port 80.
Loading Tcl/Tk interface ... done
Warning: unable to access index for repository 
http://www.biometrics.mtu.edu/CRAN/src/contrib
Warning in download.packages(pkgs, destdir = tmpd, available = available,  :
          no package 'akima' at the repositories
 >

I appreciate any direction that I can be given...

Perry