What started as an esoteric dispute over whether a Senate “pro forma” session can technically be considered “recess” morphed into a larger question of executive power when a federal appeals court rejected the Obama Administration’s recess appointments to the National Labor Relations Board.

What can only be described as a blockbuster opinion was just handed down by the DC Circuit in the case of Canning v NLRB, the validity of President Obama’s recess appointments has been slapped down. Here is the full opinion. The three judge panel was Chief Judge David Sentelle, Karen Henderson and Thomas Griffith, all Republican appointees.

Several sympathizers, seeing a point of weakness for Walmart, have jumped aboard with help in promoting the Black Friday protests. The United Auto Workers, one of the more insular unions as far as activity outside their specific area of interest is concerned, just went out to their members supporting the strikers and encouraging attendance

Walmart, trying to change the subject in advance of protests and strikes at the outset of the holiday shopping season, has filed an unfair labor practice charge against the United Food and Commercial Workers union, arguing that UFCW is illegally attempting to disrupt its business.

Throughout the three-plus days of panels, training sessions, caucuses and keynotes, attendees quite likely heard no mention of nuclear power, its persistent threats to safety, its drastic drain on the budget, its onerous oppression of workers or its brazen gouging of rate-payers. For, while there were well over 100 panels, and dozens of other training sessions and caucuses, nothing on the schedule even made a passing attempt to address nuclear energy here in the United States or the ongoing (and growing) crisis of radioactive contamination from Fukushima spreading across the globe.

Terence Flynn, a Republican member of the National Labor Relations Board, who leaked documents to Republican confidants according to that agency’s inspector general, resigned on Sunday. Flynn’s resignation becomes effective July 24.

The failure to pass better rules for forming labor unions during the 2009-2010 period has now shown its full costs. Yesterday, a federal appeals court blocked the more modest union election rules approved by the National Labor Relations Board, on the grounds that the NLRB did not have a quorum when it approved the rules.

Dayen’s news roundup from April 15, 2012, when instead of doing his taxes, he was reading stories about Iran’s nuclear program, World Bank, UN advisers, Summit of the America’s, Secret Service, Sheila Bair, Elliot Spitzer, Judge Lippman, JP Morgan, North Korea, SOPA, NLRB, Sarkozy, and more.

Dayen’s news roundup from Monday Standing Day, March 26, 2012, including stories on Trayon Martin, forclosures, Richard Cordray, Syria, Turkey, bailouts, mic check, David Cameron, NLRB, Romneycare, Laura Richardson, Wisconsin, Tea Party and more.

The House Republican position on President Obama’s recess appointments is hard to even express without laughing. GOP Congressmembers are actually saying that they oppose the appointments because Congress is not in recess – and as soon as they finish their vacation and get back to Washington, they’ll have something to say about that.