Anime: A definition

How does one properly define the term "Anime?"

This question arises because yesterday I could have undoubtedly made an ass of myself or opened up a colossal can of flesh-eating worms just by referring to Avatar as NOT being an anime.
In the forums, this has caused a myriad of passionate results attempting to teach me what an anime really is. Pardon my ignorance, but I thought Anime was short for Japanimation, which is short for Japanese Animation, which then entails all animation animated and produced in Japan, in Japanese usually, and then when it is often purchased, dubbed, or subtitled (actually, it is almost always subtitled in the beginning) and brought to other countries, like the US, is it thrust into the term of an Anime by the populace. True, it is called Anime in Japan as well, but it seems that "Anime" is the only word we Americans use to describe this animation.
Now, the majority of what comes overseas, excluding shows like Hamtaro and similar bouts of entertainment, are action-oriented. What stems from this is an assumption that all things anime are action-oriented animation. With the Anime craze, more and more animators are drawing with Japanese-style influence. So now, American cartoons are looking like Anime. And to some people, they become Anime.
This vociferously irks me, because now the term has changed to encompass all animation, regardless of whether it's American, Japanese, British, or whatever. Now, not only action sometimes, but ALL animation is, in some areas, is being referred to as Anime. The main reason this incurs my wrath is that the definition is ineffable. We, as a people, have no idea what Anime is anymore. To some people, it is Japanese animation. To others, it is X-Men: Evolution (which is an American cartoon). To more, still, it is the entire block of shows that they consider horrible.
Because of the surplus of infantile and piqued Anime that Networks have purchased, dubbed, and flooded the airwaves with, it is becoming more and more difficult to find the shows that are original and artistic, and worth the time to view. The ones that attach to us, and we to them. These diamonds in the rough have become so elusive now that it is difficult to decipher quality out of quantity.
And it's when good shows like Avatar, Justice League, and Oh My Goddess, and Cowboy Bebop, get clumped together with the crap that has taken over FoxKids, and the WB, sometimes, even Cartoon Network (but only on extremely rare occasions...the YuGiOh movie...dear God). I feel like Nickelodeon is the only saving grace at this point, because I haven't seen an Anime yet on their Network. Everything they do, is theirs.

What is happening is a synthesis of animation styles. See, the Japanese have been animating under the clock, and know how do it fast and cheap, for years. That's why there are so many shows. And a lot...are there to sell toys. But also a lot are there to tell stories. They've been good at both. Also a fair number are dedicated to both sides of the spectrum: infants, and horny old men, but I won't get into that. My point is that the Japanese animation industry has been operating, more often than not, under low cost conditions, they are damn good at it.
Excellent, powerful, still images, where they only animate 3-4 frames of hair animation and speed up or slow down the frame rate to simulate wind currents. Painting a mural and panning the camera across it while adding plane audio for movement. Animating only the mouths of a character in a cycle of 2-3 frames, so that ANY voice actor could speak through that character. They know all the tricks of the trade. And some of the best anime in existence was made under those conditions.
However, I love smooth animation and I love the boldness of Japanese animation, which is why Miyazaki is my hero. His films are all about fluidity of movement, realism of characters, imaginative worlds, and telling a story through details, instead of an over-arching theme. Japanese films, with certain exceptions (Yugi), are often much more dedicated to animation quality, for they have a better budget to work with, thus more frames, smoother frame rate, less recycled frames.
American animation, cartoons, has had a long history of...Kidsie stuff. I grew up on Disney, but everything after Tarzan is a little disappointing (Pixar omitted obviously). Some of the best animators, lyricists, and composers in the world were a part of Disney, then, all of a sudden, the magic was gone. That's a movie example. For a long time, Disney was the forerunner in animated film (especially American). We also had our share of action cartoons, most based on comics (X-Men, Spiderman. GI Joe). But then, we grew up on Talespin, Darkwing Duck, Bobby's World, Ninja Turtles, even Gargoyles [more on that later]. True, they were predictable and juvenile (most of them), but there was/is a difference in the techniques and style.
Cartoons usually have a very fast pace. I watched an episode of Ninja Turtles (the old one) a few days ago, and noticed how quickly they move from scene to scene. There are less long pauses, more dialogue, a lot of times trying to be witty or comment on current events, more movement during dialogue, and sometimes sacrificing quality of still art for just an extra frame of movement. The characters were more, seemingly, alive. That they acted, instead of just being looked upon and watching their mouths move. In shows like Batman (the WB animation, before KidsWB took over the style) the episodes had marvelous pacing, theme, dialogue; they were exquisite, and showed a keen sense of what it meant to tell a story episode by episode, so that each episode could stand on its own.

Now, American artists are using the Japanese tricks of the trade, and implementing their own. Some make nods to famous styles of Japanimation while holding their own (Teen Titans), but others stray entirely to choppy movement throughout, glitchy frame rates, and they forget where they came from, trying to leap onto the bandwagon that has already left (in my opinion, Totally Spies). It is the ones that split the difference between Cartoon and Anime. Both styles I consider eutectic; they are easily fused. The animators that complete the fusion and keep their originality (Samurai Jack, for one) are the ones keeping up with the change of interests and will not be swept away in the wake of half-assed shows and money-grubbing producing (the purchase of Anime and the cost of dubbing is much cheaper than being original).

Avatar is one of these things. It maintains its heart, and it mixes multiple styles from multiple cultures, and thus it becomes something else. Something different. Something...simple.

An ANIMATION.

For other good examples, look up Danny Phantom, Justice League Unlimited, and the Batman.

PS: though I did not define Anime in any clear way, I intend to in the future. Thanks for reading, comments are always appreciated, especially if enlightening.