OK, I went to (Mac OS X) Systems Preferences -> Network -> Proxies and turned off all the Proxy settings. (I am on a network here, by the way.) With this, I didn't even get the hosts lining up in red, but in gray right from the start with the message "Error. Connection refused"
The same came from turning on everything EXCEPT the SOCKS Firewall. If I turned on the SOCKS Firewall only then I was back where I started.

I would like very much to see any further comments you can spare for me, but frankly I am not sure how much longer I want to pursue this . . .