THERE'S MORE DRAMA HERE THAN IN AN EPISODE OF "E.R."

Here's the update (as of 6:00 PM) on events today related to the Terri Schiavo case:

--- The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals in Atlanta voted 10-2 to deny a rehearing before the entire panel of judges en banc. The federal efforts now move on to the Supreme Court of the United States, with the file being read first by Justice Anthony Kennedy.

--- The Florida Senate once again rejected a bill directly related to this case, filed by Senator Daniel Webster (R - Winter Garden). It would have mandated that nutrients not be denied to any incapacitated patient unless he/she has authorized in writing that such food and water be withheld. It failed by the same three vote margin that it did in it's previous vote.

--- Once again, Jeb! is putting on the full court press to force the feeding tube back into Terri. This time, he has had the Department of Children and Families file a motion with Pinellas County Circuit Judge George Greer to seek placing Mrs. Schiavo into protective custody, claiming that a neurologist at Jacksonville's Mayo Clinic --- Dr. William Cheshire --- has reviewed the medical records and believes that Terri is not in a "persistant vegatative state", as has been accepted by other professionals, but a "state of minimal consciousness". I've not heard anything official yet, but while visiting a Court TV chat with Abstract Appeal blogman and appellate attorney Matt Conigliaro (his second such online chat with Court TV), he mentioned that word was out that Judge Greer has denied that motion as well after a hearing this afternoon.

And while this is not news, I thought you may want to check out this interesting bit from the Panama City-based blog IronKnee . It is a much shorter version of a piece by economist Heather Boushey on the blog TomPaine.com, but Ed --- a good Roman Catholic who happens to disagree with the Church on this issue --- does it justice in three paragraphs.