Permissions is slow and ineffective

I have many modules and CCK with content permissions.

All of the sudden, today, permissions decides it will no longer process my requests. The page is slow, Firefox asks me if I want to continue the script ( I say yes, it completes the load). Only any permissions changes I request do not appear.

After far too many tries, I've realized the problem is mostly related to content permissions. So I reinstall CCK. It is still slow, and it will update one field permission at a time. Request more, and nothing will change.

Gahhhh! I made no changes since it last worked.

any ideas?