def kopi(x):
    y = []
    for num in x:
        new_num = num - 1
        if new_num < 0:
           new_num=0
        print new_num,
        y.append(new_num)
    y.append (len(x))
    print len(x)
    print "new list inside function", y
    return y

##   15 iterations
if __name__ == "__main__":
   x=[4,4,2]
   print "the beginning list is", x
   for k in range(0, 15):
      x=kopi(x)
      print "the list is now", x, "\n"