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Neal, it's odd that you can't provoke a problem.  Try 
boosting MAX.  The del here triggers a chain of 
deallocations that requires call-stack space proportional to 
the length of the object chain (MAX).  This is the kind of 
situation Python's infamous TRASHCAN macros aim at 
worming around, but the slot cleanup code doesn't play 
that game (yet).

Assigned to Guido just because he'll enjoy it <wink>.