Consumer hardware shipments are a near disaster, creating a huge overcapacity in semiconductors.

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Euroland is a near disaster with no final fix possible without massive write-downs in national debt covering Greece and probably Spain, Italy, Portugal and Ireland.

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But fourteen days ago a near disaster was averted when the huge mast was in danger of crashing down as the ball supporting the mast cracked.

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This approach has all the hallmarks of a disaster waiting for space in a GP's surgery near you.

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Bad appointments (Don Rumsfeld, Mike Brown and the near disaster of Harriet Miers) and poor communication skills prevented a higher grade.

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You'll recall from high school or college how Shakespeare frequently pushes the limits of comedy and tragedy, splicing farce into moments of calamity (the fool in King Lear, the clowns in Hamlet) and pulling back suddenly from near-fatal disaster in comedies (The Merchant of Venice, A Winter's Tale).

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Economic growth, though interrupted at points by political unrest in the Middle East and by a natural disaster in Japan, should not be lower this year though, matching the near 4% rate that it measured in 2010.

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