SOLVED: Rebooting the machine appears to have removed the issue. I will update if the problem returns.

I'm having an issue where `Python2.6` hangs after an exception is raised, specifically when `foo.py` is called with an absolute path (`/home/user/bar/foo.py`). I am then required to `ctrl+c` out of the program. If called from within the `bar` directory as `./foo.py` or from the root directory as `./home/user/bar/foo.py`, the program terminates correctly.

foo.py:

```
#!/usr/bin/env python2.6
print 'begin'
x = [0, 1, undefined]
print 'x'

```

or

```
#!/usr/bin/env python2.6
print 'begin'
raise Exception('stopping here')

```

I may also mention that a `sys.exit()` works fine, without issues.

```
#!/usr/bin/env python2.6
import sys
print 'begin'
sys.exit(0)

```

What is happening to the exception that is failing to terminate the program? This is likely specific to my configuration. Where should I begin looking for a solution?

EDIT: `execfile('/home/user/bar/foo.py')` works fine if running interactive mode. Additionally, running `nohup /home/user/bar/foo.py &` results in a hanging process that must be killed.

Running CentOS release 6.3 (Final). This issue did not always exist. This only started about a month ago over a weekend (I was not using the machine at that time).

UPDATE: Debugging with GDB, the backtrace points to `libpthread.so.0`. 

```
#0  0x000000364340e890 in __connect_nocancel () from /lib64/libpthread.so.0
#1  0x00007ffff18960d8 in ?? () from /usr/lib64/python2.6/lib-dynload/_socketmodule.so
#2  0x00007ffff189815c in ?? () from /usr/lib64/python2.6/lib-dynload/_socketmodule.so
#3  0x00007ffff7d0a706 in PyEval_EvalFrameEx () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#4  0x00007ffff7d0c797 in PyEval_EvalCodeEx () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#5  0x00007ffff7d0abe4 in PyEval_EvalFrameEx () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#6  0x00007ffff7d0bccf in PyEval_EvalFrameEx () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#7  0x00007ffff7d0bccf in PyEval_EvalFrameEx () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#8  0x00007ffff7d0c797 in PyEval_EvalCodeEx () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#9  0x00007ffff7c9adb0 in ?? () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#10 0x00007ffff7c70303 in PyObject_Call () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#11 0x00007ffff7d04dd3 in PyEval_CallObjectWithKeywords () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#12 0x00007ffff7d28cd2 in PyErr_PrintEx () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#13 0x00007ffff7d29297 in PyRun_SimpleFileExFlags () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#14 0x00007ffff7d35c32 in Py_Main () from /usr/lib64/libpython2.6.so.1.0
#15 0x000000364281ecdd in __libc_start_main () from /lib64/libc.so.6
#16 0x0000000000400649 in _start ()

```

Anybody know what this means?