European Light Fixture in the US - Does it require a ground connection to light up
So I've got it working, I'll post a few things in case it's helpful for someone else in the future.  


Using a multi-meter I tested continuity throughout the fixture on both sides of the circuit (both little round circles at the base of the bulb sockets), and everything was intact - so no shorts.  
My non-contact tester is a capacitive coupling tester which will detect electrostatic fields in the absence of flowing current.  The entire fixture tested "hot" because there was line power going into it but no path outwards (see 3).  It was not an energized fixture however as the line power was contained within the intact wiring
Not all reducers are created equal (or fit in that particular light).  The e14-12 reducer that I was using was not getting good contact with the base of the socket.  I took the fixture to a local lamp store where we test fitted 3 different reducers until we found one that worked.  At least one bulb needed to be connected to complete the circuit.  Since none of the reducers was contacting the socket sufficiently to work there was no circuit made - leading to #2 above.
From my reading and discussion with the lamp store people: European fixtures are powered at 220-240V, at that voltage less current is needed to power a bulb which is why they are able to use smaller gauge wiring. In the US, at lower voltage more current is needed to power a given wattage bulb.  Wire resistance is pretty much fixed so a higher current over a fixed resistance generates more heat, I believe the equation is power is proportional to IxIxR.  In my application this is ok as I am using LEDs at a much lower wattage, I am also not using 240V bulbs which would demand a much higher current flow to work (if they even could).  Hopefully I summarized this correctly (and am not wrong).