SOLUTION A
========================
create a function that check the status of the debug flag...

	#create a global var like this:
	DEBUG = True


	def debug_logger(s)
    	if DEBUG:  write_to_log(s)

    def functionA()
        debug_logger("write this message to the log file")

SOLUTION B
========================
have each function that needs to log something check the status of the flag directly

	#create a global var like this:
	DEBUG = True

    def functionA()
        if DEBUG:  write_to_log("write this message to the log file")