Just to add complication, each will have a different electoral system: council elections in May will be by the traditional first-past-the-post method, European elections in June by a proportional system.

ECONOMIST: Devolution

Maglev technology has been around for years as the propulsion method behind certain European and Asian trains, and basically involves using the Physics 101 properties of magnetic attraction and repulsion to provide an object with momentum.

ENGADGET: Maglev elevators to scare us all by 2008

That the euro has failed as a method of increasing the wealth and happiness of the European population seems difficult to contradict at present.

FORBES: It's Not That the Euro Will Fail, It's That It Should Fail

The current playoff format has introduced chaos rather than provide a method to lessen the predictability of championship outcomes found in European soccer.

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Dan Pearson, deputy European editor for GamesIndustry.biz, said the idea was a shrewd method of re-energising the firm's strong back catalogue.

BBC: Technology

Another method: Play off the hapless euro against another, healthier European currency.

FORBES: Euro Trashed

This is a business method that may change (T-Mobile USA are looking to switch to a more European system during 2012) but for the moment the mechanics of the monthly plan put more power in the hands of the networks than they do in the hands of the consumer.

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