In raising the treaty as an issue India may be signalling how deeply angry with Pakistan it is.
Britain's poor stockmarket performance over the past few years may be signalling that the economy's long run of good performance will not last.
Though it is not clear what Purnell means by "equality of capability", I think he may be signalling a move away from the weird, market-loving statism that has characterised New Labour when he says that "the state works best when individuals have the power to choose".
By rewarding Tokyo's seemingly restrained plan to host a more modest Olympics, the I.O.C. may be signalling its desire to move away from the kinds of nationalistic, gaudy, and transformative Olympic Games represented by Beijing, in 2008, and Sochi, which, combined, have made for a trillion dollars in spending.
But in appointing someone so closely linked to the youth of Inter, an advocate of attractive, passing soccer, similar to Guardiola, Moratti may be signalling he is about to finally clear his Mourinho hangover by heading in the opposite direction.
"Some people want to throw their hands up and say OK, whoever, we just want it to stop," says a local.Light your neighbours' fireMr Assad may be signalling a willingness to spread fires abroad, too.
