CATEGORY 5: Hurricane Melissa is beginning to hit Jamaica this morning as a Category 5 storm with winds up to 175 mph. Three people are already dead.

 If the storm continues on its current path Jamaica can expect widespread and even catastrophic destruction.

  Forecasters say rainfall will be measurable in feet rather than inches. The storm surge will bring flooding from the seas and the mountains will pour down water and mudlsides

  The aftermath will be tough for the island country. Jamaica depends upon tourism for about a third of its income.

MADE IN JAPAN: President Trump spent the day with Japan’s newly-elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi as part of his six-day trip to Asia. The visit was heavy on flattery, but produced no breakthroughs on trade negotiations. 

THE REGIME:

— Speaking to a crowd of sailors aboard a US aircraft carrier in Japan, President Trump vowed to keep sending troops to American cities. He said he might even send active duty soldiers as well as the National Guard. “We can’t have cities that are troubled.”  

  Previously, Trump admitted to reporters travelling in Asia that he had recently had a magnetic resonance scan that came out “perfect” but he did not give the reason for doctors ordering the scan. Trump claimed that Democratic Representatives Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Jasmine Crockett of Texas would not “pass” the cognitive mental exams he has taken at Walter Reed.

  The President also said he would like to serve a third term because he is so popular with his supporters.

— More than 100 former Justice Department officials urged a federal judge in Virginia to dismiss charges against former FBI director James Comey, arguing that his indictment is fueled by political animus rather that evidence and justice Department standards.

— New College of Florida, once a liberal outpost turned around by Gov. Ron DeSantis, has become the first college or university to agree to Donald Trump’s “compact” in exchange for priority on federal funding.

  The compact requires freezing tuition for five years, capping enrollment of international students, and committing to strict definitions of gender. The university would also be required to change governance to prohibit anything that would “punish, belittle and even spark violence against conservative ideas.”

  “As other colleges have rejected the compact, we see it as a bold step forward from the Trump administration that will help preserve America’s place as the world’s number one destination for higher education,”  New College said in a news release.

— Argentina’s Libertarian President Javier Milei with support from Donald Trump won more than 40% of the popular vote in midterm elections, cementing his control of the National Congress. He prevailed despite corruption scandals and economic turmoil.

  Trump told reporters on Air Force One, “He had a lot of help. I gave him an endorsement, very strong endorsement. And it was really unexpected to have a victory like that.” The US president had promised a $40 billion bailout to stabilize the Argentine peso even though the country already owes $56 billion to the international monetary fund.

CHANNEL CHANGE: The first on-air head to roll in the corporate takeover and management changes at CBS News is Evening News co-anchor John Dickerson, who was named to co-host the broadcast with Maurice DuBois only in January. After 16 years with CBS as a reporter, host, and Evening News Anchor, the 57-year-old Dickerson is leaving the network at the end of the year.

  Dickerson and DuBois took the anchor chairs in a re-design of the broadcast under former 60 Minutes producer Bill Owens. But Owens resigned in a power struggle with former Paramount owner Shari Redstone and the Evening News is still third in the ratings. New owner David Ellison appointed online journalism entrepreneur Bari Weiss to be editorial director of CBS News, undermining newly appointed President Tom Cibrowski. The Dickerson move has Weiss’s fingerprint on it. 

HOME PLATE: After 18 innings last night in Los Angeles  … 18 … The Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-5 in the third game of the World Series. It lasted 6 hours and 39 minutes … 609 pitches. The Dodgers used every one of their pitchers to close it out at 11:50 pm, giving the teams 17 hours to hit the field again tonight.

THE SPIN RACK: The board of the conservative publication at Harvard, The Salient, suspended publication citing the printing of what they called “reprehensible, abusive and demeaning material.”They didn’t say what the offending material was, but there’s been controversy over an article about migration in Europe that echoed Adolph Hitler’s calls for ethnic purity. The Salient is independent from Harvard and not an official student publication. — A statue of the Confederate General Albert Pike that was pulled down and burned during Black Lives Matter protests in Washington, DC in June 2020 has been repaired and reinstalled in Judiciary Square. The only Confederate monument in DC first installed in 1901 has long been a center of contention. The plaque at the base describes Pike as an “author, poet, scholar, soldier, jurist, orator, philanthropist and philosopher,” but it does not say he fought for the Confederacy or that he may have been involved in establishing the Ku Klux Klan. 

BELOW THE FOLD: Kelsey Grammer, the former star of the sitcom “Frasier,” announced the birth of  his eighth child at age 70 with his fourth wife. As Groucho Marx said …. 

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