[tentacles] assertions

[Robert Burrell Donkin]

Tentacles is a little unusual in using Java assertions. When assertions 
are off, then [1] no longer works as expected (rather than running with 
debugging checks off).

For applications in runnable jars, I think using assertions to allow 
debugging is a cool idea - controlling logging levels is sometimes 
tricky in this situation. However - by the principle of least surprise - 
when on the golden path, I think tentacles should function correctly 
whether assertions are on or off.

Opinions?

Robert
[1] 
http://svn.apache.org/viewvc/creadur/tentacles/trunk/src/main/java/org/apache/creadur/tentacles/Files.java?revision=1355691&view=markup