Yes... you are exactly right. after commenting out the line

print $t->waitfor(String=>"HTTP", Timeout=>5 );
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It works, and I can now get a debugging log. Here's what I see from a normal Telnet...

[meonkeys@serendipity scripts]$ telnet 127.0.0.1 80
Trying 127.0.0.1...
Connected to 127.0.0.1.
Escape character is '^]'.
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Thank you kindly for your help.