In any case, current inflation rates are very low, and anyone who actively wants deflation is an idiot--deflation is a growth-killer.

Few things have a "set meaning" because that's how language works. Meanings are consensual, not static nor existing in some abstract, pure form. Any identity one claims is not necessarily a precise description of who they are--I know several people who, in fact, do not find any of the existing gender or sexual orientation designations precise enough to fully agree with, but they'll claim the one that's closest because it's preferable to have some identity than be left in the uncomfortable position of not having a term to identity with at all.

The issue with "male" and "female" is not a lack of precision but rather their narrow scope and insufficiency for describing various realities. There is a difference between having to use a term you don't identify with at all and using one that you don't completely identify with but find close enough to suit your purposes.

This is why "male" and "female" (or, if you prefer, "man" and "woman") get modifiers. Designated male/female at birth, trans woman/man, etc. In and of themselves, they don't necessarily say enough to constitute something one is comfortable identifying with.

Basically, the purpose is for people to have terms describing identities they are comfortable claiming as their own, rather than forcing them to fit inside boxes others have built and insist on keeping narrow and limited. I may be explaining it poorly but that's where I'm coming from. (I say this as a hetero cisgender male, so I have no personal stake other than my friends who do.)

I guess you'd better go talk to actual sociologists, geneticists, and psychologists, because those fields all say you're full of shit.

Gender identity has precisely nothing to do with sexual orientation, but thanks for playing (and demonstrating your own profound ignorance.)

"Male" and "female" are actually used quite inconsistently in terms of what they mean, so the precision argument doesn't get much traction with me. This is a matter of self-identification. Precision is not the utmost concern, but rather respecting other people's identities and their right to assert them.

"IA" has also been appended to the end of that, signifying those who are Intersex and Asexual/Aromantic. (Some think the "A" stands for "Ally/Allied." It does not.)

Indeed.

Sex is biological, though it can be indeterminate due to being intersex or a chimera.

Gender is also biological, and usually aligns with your sex, but not always.

Gender roles are social/cultural, and define what we expect of someone's behavior based on their gender.

People often get gender and gender role mixed up, thinking they are the same thing when they aren't.

Apparently you can be convinced of pretty much anything, yourself. Except things that make any sense, that is.

No.

Keep the cockpit door shut and locked.

If a hijacking occurs and the hijackers somehow control the cabin, as long as they can't get through a locked, (hopefully) bulletproof door, there isn't much they can do to anything outside the plane. As soon as the pilots know something is up, they can make an emergency landing and let ground response teams take it from there.

But without access to the cockpit, they can't turn the plane into a missile, and if they can't get into the cockpit, what do pilots need guns for?

Follow your skepticism through to the people who have actually analyzed all the "skeptics'" claims, only to find that they have no merit.

I used to be skeptical, too. I was reluctant to trust the "official" story. But I studied both the conspiracy theories and the analyses of them, and as more and more information came out, it became obvious that what really happened is more or less what the official story says.

WTC7 is viewed by conspiracy theorists as the best evidence for government deception, however the building was severely damaged by the falling towers (there are photos, look them up), and fires raged within until they compromised the building's structure, causing a collapse. There are first-hand accounts describing the damage and the intensity of the fires. I'm more inclined to believe people who were actually there, who made decisions about whether to continue putting firefighters' lives at risk (what got "pulled" was not the building, but the firefighting crews), than guys on the Internet who just want to think they're smarter than everyone else.

I'll note that basically the same thing happened with the 3DS, and then it started to recover after a) a price cut and b) finally having a decent library. Now its sales trajectory is quite healthy. I wouldn't be surprised if the Wii U follows the same pattern.

It was an unqualified success from Nintendo's standpoint, in that it moved tons of units. It didn't move lots of third-party games, a problem that Nintendo has long had and continues to work on, but the console itself made lots of money for the company and certainly sold beyond their wildest expectations.

Good thing I didn't make it the "entire explanation," then.

It's hard to know where to begin in shooting down that idea. Nintendo and Valve have massively different company cultures, to the point that I think attempting to merge them in any meaningful way would be a complete disaster for both. Valve also depends on open platforms--Nintendo's entire business model revolves around closed ones. It would be hard to find two companies who are more complete opposites.

Yes, they say opposites attract, but that's an insightful sounding cliche, not a fact of life. The reality of trying to merge such vastly dissimilar companies would be a nightmare for both.

Yeah, Nintendo's handheld units print money. The 3DS had a rocky start but it's doing very well now.

Likewise, I suspect Nintendo will turn the Wii U ship around. It won't be as popular as the Wii--the Wii was a one-time blip that I doubt anyone will repeat--but the Wii U will probably do fine once it has a decent library and gets enough household recognition. I hope Nintendo learned a lesson there: don't launch a console that causes naming confusion and don't launch one without a good set of launch titles!