LCDs, LED backlit or not, are awful compared to the better plasmas. The black levels don't measure up to plasma, but the real Achilles heal of the LCD panel is its poor off-axis viewing. In other words, if you are not sitting directly in front of the tv you will see color shift and the picture will begin to appear washed out. I know, I have one. I am aware of no technological remedy for this flaw.

OLED is the best contender for future display technology, but I think it will be years before OLEDs are affordable, especially the larger panels. The technology to economically manufacture the panels does not exist at the moment.

Plasmas by their nature will use more juice, but the ones made today are much more efficient than those of five years ago.

And I read a LA Times article that televisions account for about 10% of the average Californian's electric bill, not 20%.

As stated by the poster above, tvs become more energy efficient each year, so the predictions I've read about billions being saved by outlawing the energy hogs are likely based on present consumption without taking into account the incremental improvements in energy efficiency we see each year. Energy efficiency is a big selling point and you can bet the CE makers are working hard to make their products even more efficient.

Yet California, as usual, can't resist using the brute force of regulation.

“With a sizable portion of Republicans either unsure about where Obama was born or believing that he was born in Kenya, not Hawaii, the Birthers are bound to experience a resurgence in time for the 2012 campaign -- just don't expect Taitz to be leading them.”

A “sizeable portion”? What does that mean, 50%, 20%, .00001%? Its like saying a “sizable portion” of Democrats are sympathetic to the practices of Earth Liberation Front and PETA. The birthers is a dead story and its relevance exists only in the minds of a few fringe nuts and liberal journalists who prefer to believe large numbers of Americans believe in nonsense that has been conclusively disproved. Put Rev. Manning and Rev. Wright in a room and award a prize to the one who can spin the most nutcase conspiracy theory.

Nice speech. Sports analogies always help when you just got your ass kicked. It wasn't just that Rio nudged out Chicago -- out of the four candidates, Chicago finished dead last.

I didn't see much of the Copenhagen presentation, but did he apologize to the committee for Americans winning too many medals over the years? I mean our domination in men's swimming with Michael Phelps is an example of America's cruel athletic imperialism.

I'm also glad Rio got the games. The Brazilians are up-and-comers and the whole nation is united in their enthusiasm in hosting the games.

But as an American not from Chicago, I'm a little upset that the city offered this unique opportunity didn't make a better effort. For god's sake Chicagoans, stop sitting there whining about your corrupt government, etc., etc. Get off your butts, clean out city hall and take back your streets. What a far cry modern Chicago is from the city which banded together in an amazing effort to put on the lavish 1893 World's Fair, which stands as a landmark in our nation's culture and history.

Maybe Obama can help. At the rate he's going, he'll be back home soon enough.

Salon is becoming a like the famous Jeff Foxworthy routine “You Might be Redneck if....”

If you shout that the president is a liar and are white and from South Carolina, you just might be a racist.

If you say the word "monkey" and are white, you just might be a racist.

If you are white and criticize the activities of ACORN and are white, you just might be a racist.

If you are a teabagger and are white, you just might be a racist.

If you listen to Glen Beck and are white, you just might be a racist.

If you listen to Rush Limbaugh and are white, you just might be a racist.

If you protest any element of the president's policies and are white, you just might be a racist.

If you were born below the Mason-Dixon Line and are white, you just might be a racist.

If you are a Republican and are white, you just might be a racist.

The problem with idle speculation that everyone is a racist, like the boy who cried wolf, is that very soon nobody listens to you.

“But if there’s any lesson to be had, it seems to be this: All of us are conditioned by a very real legacy of racism and sexism that may cause us to pin real life situations onto the narrative that seems to fit them best.”

Right, life is just a tangle of narratives driven by ingrained sexist and racist biases, and there is no truth. Pure academic, deconstructionist crap which I thought became passé in the 1980s.

God, I hope the author of this piece never sits on a jury judging me if I were falsely accused of rape. I don’t think she would accept my “narrative” of innocence, because due to my sex and my race, I am not entitled to credibility.

A resolution means absolutely nothing. It is not an official censure or reprimand. Congress could pass a resolution honoring Sarah Palin for her outstanding contributions to American political and intellectual discourse and it would have the exact same meaning, nothing. All it means is that a majority of very unpopular legislators raised their hands when a statement was read.

I understand also that under House rules it is now prohibited for a member to call the president a "hypocrite." Good grief, not being able to call a politician a hypocrite is like saying you can't call a female dog a bitch.