I have the same problem… running WordPress 3.1
Its adding approximately 2-3 seconds loading time to my website, even on pages where there are no star ratings being used.
I haven’t found a solution yet. But there is a workaround. If you go to the Graphics page in your settings panel, you can select specific sizes and types of stars/thumbs. Most likely you’re only going to be using one type of rating graphics right? If you unselect all the rest, they won’t load with the CSS file.
Thanks Roy! Good work with the plugin… I have really liked using it so far, as its minimal but slick at the same time.