OAKLAND'S DEADLY BLAZE 

After Friday’s fatal warehouse inferno at California art collective “Ghost Ship”, reports have emerged that concert organizers never applied for an event permit, preventing city workers from inspecting exits, fire extinguishers, sprinklers and other safety features. In mid-November, Oakland’s Planning and Building Department is said to have learned of illegal construction within the warehouse—Department Director Darin Ranelletti has now confirmed the organization was tipped that the warehouse contained illegal residences. Former collective members have also confirmed that five or six mobile homes, powered by electrical sources spliced from a neighboring structure, were located inside the warehouse. Firefighters who fought Friday’s blaze have described the 10,000-square-foot warehouse as a cluttered maze of random furniture, sculptures, pianos and ramshackle stairs fashioned from wooden pallets.

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Inside Look at Ghost Ship Halloween 2013

#CaliforniaCollective #WarehouseDisaster #Blaze

WILL ITALY JOIN THE POPULIST MOVEMENT?

 In what some are calling the “third domino to fall” in a global populist movement (preceded by Brexit and Trump), Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi has resigned after his referendum to garner widespread policy reform failed. Many European leaders fear that Renzi’s move may initiate a free-for-all amongst Italian politicians, leading to a spike in borrowing fees that could jar Italy’s unstable economy, possibly leading to a renewed Eurozone emergency. Renzi’s resignation has energized anti-establishment party the Five Star Movement, led by retired comic Beppe Grillo, who has been openly supportive of a referendum on euro retention. Even amongst non-populists, there exists an agreeance that Italy’s current political system is in need of some reform—the country’s Senate is oversized, investment projects are lagging, and almost all governmental reform has been met with Parliamentary obstruction.

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International Report on Renzi Resignation

 #PoliticalUpheaval #GlobalGiants #Populism

 GREEN PARTY TAKES PENNSYLVANIA RECOUNT TO HIGHER COURT

The Pennsylvania presidential election recount campaign, headed by former Green Party candidate Jill Stein, has withdrawn its recount request from the state court system, nothing that its supporters are "regular citizens of ordinary means" who cannot afford the $1 million bond necessary to initiate the review. In lieu of the withdrawal, the campaign has chosen to approach a federal court with their request, demanding a statewide recount on constitutional grounds. The recount campaign is motivated by U.S. security official claims that Russian hackers were able to access emails of Democratic National Committee members as well as Hillary Clinton staffers. Given these claims, Stein has demanded a recount on the grounds that hacked voting systems could have led to manipulation of final vote count.

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Jill Stein: Why The Recount Counts

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnists/2016/12/02/why-recount-matters-jill-stein/94766906/

#FedLedDoubleCheck #GreenParty #JillStein