Michelle Obama on Saturday encouraged the first full graduating class at the University of California, Merced, to help change the world by using the same determination they had shown in bringing her to campus.
“A few people may be wondering why did I choose the University of California, Merced, to deliver my first commencement speech as first lady,” Mrs. Obama said. “The answer is simple: you inspired me, you touched me.
“There are few things that are more rewarding than to watch young people recognize that they have the power to make their dreams come true. And you did just that.”
Mrs. Obama was drafted to speak here at the smallest, newest campus in the University of California system through a lobbying effort by students and their families. They peppered the White House with letters, videos and hundreds of Valentine’s Day cards.
“And let me tell you, it worked,” she said. “Because I’m here.”
The speech capped weeks of anticipation at the university for an event that left some students star-struck on a blazingly bright and hot afternoon.
“I haven’t seen anyone of that magnitude in person,” said Daniel Titcher, 22, a senior. “Maybe a state senator or assemblyman or something, but nothing like this.”
The appearance also delighted university officials, who had been working to raise enough money to pay for a more elaborate commencement, attended by more than 10,000 people. The $700,000 price tag for the event included enhanced security, like dozens of metal detectors. Lookouts were on rooftops around the school’s quad, and Secret Service agents patrolled the campus, which sits surrounded by browning farmland outside Merced.
John Garamendi Jr., the vice chancellor for university relations, said he had been supportive but skeptical when student leaders told him they were trying to book Mrs. Obama. “I said, ‘Good luck,’ ” Mr. Garamendi recalled, with a laugh. “I said, ‘I love you guys.’ And I kept walking.”
But sure enough, in late March, Mrs. Obama announced that she would make her sole college commencement appearance this season at the Merced campus. The decision brought a swell of pride to this university in the Central Valley of California.
“Anybody who asks where my daughter’s graduating from, I say, ‘U.C. Merced,’ and they go, ‘Oh!’ ” said Shelly Comer, a nurse whose elder daughter, Michelle, was receiving her degree in psychology. “And then they start talking about Michelle Obama.”
Mr. Garamendi echoed that. “The eyes of the world are on us at this moment,” he said. “People are learning that there are positive things happening in California’s Central Valley.”
The first lady’s visit brought a jolt of excitement to the region, which has been battered by drought, high unemployment and a high foreclosure rate.
Conor Mangan, 22, said he hoped that Mrs. Obama’s appearance would help the local economy, if only for a day. “I hope it pays off,” said Mr. Mangan, who noted that he had backed Ron Paul in the presidential race.
Economic concerns were also on the mind of Irvin Junprung, 22, a biology major, who summed up the immediate plans for him and many of his fellow graduates. “Find work,” Mr. Junprung said.
Speaking at the commencement, Mrs. Obama stayed on inspirational terrain, echoing President Obama’s themes of community service and perseverance in tough times. “My husband knows a little something about the power of hope,” she said. “You are the hope of Merced. And this nation.”
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Series: Bad sciencePrevious | Index Speculation, hypothesis and ideas. But where's the evidence
You will be familiar with the work of Professor Baroness Susan Greenfield. The Oxford University professor is head of the Royal Institution of Great Britain, where she has charged herself with promoting the public's understanding of science, of what it means for there to be evidence for a given proposition. This is important work.
You will also be aware of her more prominent activity on the terrifying risks of computers, exemplified in the Daily Mail headline "Social websites harm children's brains: Chilling warning to parents from top neuroscientist", "Computers could be fuelling obesity crisis, says Baroness Susan Greenfield" in the Telegraph, and so on.
These stories arise from a string of lectures, public meetings, pronouncements and articles in the popular press, generated by Greenfield over the past few years. They are never set out as a clear hypothesis with the accompanying evidence and a clear suggestion of what research programmes might be planned to clarify any uncertainties. She has explained, when criticised for a lack of clarity, a lack of evidence and an excess of panic, that these are merely ideas, speculations, hypotheses.
But with her repeated experience of being the engine behind such scare stories over many years, she should be able to predict that her "speculations" and "hypotheses" will inevitably result in scare stories in the press.
This week, we learn about her concerns on obesity through the Telegraph and Daily Mail. "Computer games, the internet and social networking sites may be fuelling the obesity crisis" is the theory. By encouraging kids to sit around? No – "by changing the workings of the brain, an eminent scientist has warned."
Do Greenfield's ideas have any substance? Let's see. "While a child who falls out of a tree will quickly learn not to repeat the mistake, someone who goes wrong on a computer game will just keep playing." It seems to me that experimenting in a safe environment is one of the key, enduring, almost definitive features of all play. "Computer use could be cutting attention spans, stifling imagination and hampering empathy," she said. "As a result, the parts of the brain involved in these traits will not develop properly."
With the best will in the world, this seems slightly foolish, simply because there are so many different things you could do with a computer, some of which would probably enhance attention span, imagination, and empathy.
Let us be clear. It is possible that much of the Baroness's output on this topic is speculative flim flam, dressed up in a science-y "gloss". And perhaps it is dangerous and unhelpful for one of our most prominent science communicators to appear repeatedly in the media making wild headline-grabbing claims about the dangers of computers, with minimal evidence. Is Greenfield unhelpfully misrepresenting what it is that scientists do, and indeed the whole notion of what it means to have empirical evidence for a clearly stated claim, thus undermining the public's understanding of science?
I don't know. I am merely raising it as a hypothesis. We need to examine these questions in more detail. I am very, very happy to do so.
courtsey:the guardian uk
You will also be aware of her more prominent activity on the terrifying risks of computers, exemplified in the Daily Mail headline "Social websites harm children's brains: Chilling warning to parents from top neuroscientist", "Computers could be fuelling obesity crisis, says Baroness Susan Greenfield" in the Telegraph, and so on.
These stories arise from a string of lectures, public meetings, pronouncements and articles in the popular press, generated by Greenfield over the past few years. They are never set out as a clear hypothesis with the accompanying evidence and a clear suggestion of what research programmes might be planned to clarify any uncertainties. She has explained, when criticised for a lack of clarity, a lack of evidence and an excess of panic, that these are merely ideas, speculations, hypotheses.
But with her repeated experience of being the engine behind such scare stories over many years, she should be able to predict that her "speculations" and "hypotheses" will inevitably result in scare stories in the press.
This week, we learn about her concerns on obesity through the Telegraph and Daily Mail. "Computer games, the internet and social networking sites may be fuelling the obesity crisis" is the theory. By encouraging kids to sit around? No – "by changing the workings of the brain, an eminent scientist has warned."
Do Greenfield's ideas have any substance? Let's see. "While a child who falls out of a tree will quickly learn not to repeat the mistake, someone who goes wrong on a computer game will just keep playing." It seems to me that experimenting in a safe environment is one of the key, enduring, almost definitive features of all play. "Computer use could be cutting attention spans, stifling imagination and hampering empathy," she said. "As a result, the parts of the brain involved in these traits will not develop properly."
With the best will in the world, this seems slightly foolish, simply because there are so many different things you could do with a computer, some of which would probably enhance attention span, imagination, and empathy.
Let us be clear. It is possible that much of the Baroness's output on this topic is speculative flim flam, dressed up in a science-y "gloss". And perhaps it is dangerous and unhelpful for one of our most prominent science communicators to appear repeatedly in the media making wild headline-grabbing claims about the dangers of computers, with minimal evidence. Is Greenfield unhelpfully misrepresenting what it is that scientists do, and indeed the whole notion of what it means to have empirical evidence for a clearly stated claim, thus undermining the public's understanding of science?
I don't know. I am merely raising it as a hypothesis. We need to examine these questions in more detail. I am very, very happy to do so.
courtsey:the guardian uk
Military spending not fit for purpose, says army head
The head of the army, General Sir Richard Dannatt, today delivered his starkest warning yet to the government about pressures on his soldiers, describing the defence budget as "unbalanced" and "heavily skewed" in favour of hi-tech, expensive platforms irrelevant to present conflicts such as Afghanistan.
In a clear reference to such projects as plans to deploy expensive US jets on two new large aircraft carriers and buy new Eurofighters for the RAF, he said: "We have an absolute obligation to understand their needs and to provide [British troops] with the tools and training to do their jobs, and not squander our increasingly scarce resources on those things that are not relevant to today's and tomorrow's absolute requirements."
Noting that just 10% of the existing defence equipment programme was being spent on the army, he continued: "History will not judge our decision-making kindly if we duck the difficult decision and just muddle through. We are at the cross-roads."
Dannatt said the armed forces were likely to be engaged in "intervention and stabilisation operations". "We are in an era of persistent conflict. Iraq and Afghanistan are not aberrations, they are signposts to the future. We risk becoming irrelevant if we do not adapt right across the board."
In a speech to the Chatham House thinktank, Dannatt called for a major rethink of Britain's military capabilities – much of which was still the legacy of the cold war. The threat of an attack on Britain by a hostile state had diminished; the danger now was of an "age of upheaval" characterised by a "kaleidoscope of conflict" involving terrorism, insurgency, and piracy.
He said the fight against al-Qaida-inspired extremism was "probably the struggle of our generation – perhaps our thirty years war" and that many of Britain's existing capabilities were of "questionable relevance".
The British were criticised by some in the US for failing to support the Iraqis more effectively when they took control of Basra from the militias after British forces had withdrawn from the city.
"Credibility with the United States is earned by being an ally that can be relied on to state clearly what it will do and then do it effectively.
"Credibility is also linked to the vital currency of reputation and in this respect there is a recognition that our national and military reputation and credibility, unfairly or not, have been called into question at several levels in the eyes of our most important ally as a result of some aspects of the Iraq campaign."
• The Royal Marine killed on Thursday while travelling in a Viking armoured vehicle near Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan was named yesterday as Jason Macki, 21.
In a clear reference to such projects as plans to deploy expensive US jets on two new large aircraft carriers and buy new Eurofighters for the RAF, he said: "We have an absolute obligation to understand their needs and to provide [British troops] with the tools and training to do their jobs, and not squander our increasingly scarce resources on those things that are not relevant to today's and tomorrow's absolute requirements."
Noting that just 10% of the existing defence equipment programme was being spent on the army, he continued: "History will not judge our decision-making kindly if we duck the difficult decision and just muddle through. We are at the cross-roads."
Dannatt said the armed forces were likely to be engaged in "intervention and stabilisation operations". "We are in an era of persistent conflict. Iraq and Afghanistan are not aberrations, they are signposts to the future. We risk becoming irrelevant if we do not adapt right across the board."
In a speech to the Chatham House thinktank, Dannatt called for a major rethink of Britain's military capabilities – much of which was still the legacy of the cold war. The threat of an attack on Britain by a hostile state had diminished; the danger now was of an "age of upheaval" characterised by a "kaleidoscope of conflict" involving terrorism, insurgency, and piracy.
He said the fight against al-Qaida-inspired extremism was "probably the struggle of our generation – perhaps our thirty years war" and that many of Britain's existing capabilities were of "questionable relevance".
The British were criticised by some in the US for failing to support the Iraqis more effectively when they took control of Basra from the militias after British forces had withdrawn from the city.
"Credibility with the United States is earned by being an ally that can be relied on to state clearly what it will do and then do it effectively.
"Credibility is also linked to the vital currency of reputation and in this respect there is a recognition that our national and military reputation and credibility, unfairly or not, have been called into question at several levels in the eyes of our most important ally as a result of some aspects of the Iraq campaign."
• The Royal Marine killed on Thursday while travelling in a Viking armoured vehicle near Lashkar Gah in Afghanistan was named yesterday as Jason Macki, 21.
Labour MPs who cheat on expenses will be deselected
Any Labour MP found to have made improper expenses claims will be automatically deselected and barred from standing at the next general election as the party desperately tries to overcome the constitutional crisis facing parliament.
The Guardian has learned that the radical proposal is expected to be agreed next week by Labour's national executive, a move that acknowledges the deep anger among voters to the escalating scandal over MPs' claims.
Gordon Brown has also given ministers a Monday night deadline to ensure their expenses claims for the past five years are lodged with the parliamentary authorities and ready for publication.
Any deselection would happen after the parliamentary commissioner for standards had ruled that an MP had been found clearly guilty of improperly claiming.
The prime minister, who is expected to give a major TV interview on Sunday, is to resist a more sweeping grassroots proposal from leftwing NEC members that would compel every sitting Labour MP to go though a fresh selection process so the public can be reassured all candidates are "fit and proper persons" to stand at the election. Labour officials met and said such a move would be unfair.
In another rollercoaster day which saw the first ministerial casualty of the affair and signs of simmering public anger, Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service announced they were setting up a joint panel to consider multiple allegations that MPs have broken the law in their expenses claims. The police said they were acting because they had received so many complaints from the public.
In other key developments:
• A second Labour backbencher, David Chaytor, was forced to concede tonight that he had claimed £13,000 in expenses to cover mortgage interest payments on his London flat after the mortgage had been paid off. Downing Street said Chaytor was likely to be interviewed by Nick Brown, the chief whip, and face suspension from the parliamentary party along with a similar backbench offender Elliot Morley. Chaytor said he had made an unforgivable error and would repay the money.
• Lord Foulkes, a close friend of the Speaker, Michael Martin, gave a broad hint that Martin had decided to resign before the election, saying it was logical for him to do so by then.
• Shahid Malik, the justice minister, was forced to stand down from his post by Brown pending an investigation into whether an allegedly subsidised rental of a home in his Dewsbury constituency represented a breach of the ministerial code. He is the first minister to be disciplined since the allegations started, but last night won the support of his local party.
• William Hague, the Tory deputy leader, revealed he was going to divest himself of the vast bulk of his outside interests, a decision that will put pressure on the other shadow cabinet members.
• David Cameron, battling to keep abreast of public anger over the allegations of sleaze, told his Scottish Tory party that this was a time of "great danger" for democracy in the UK.
• The deputy leader of the house, Chris Bryant, was forced to deny stories that he had flipped his second home.
• The former father of the house, Tam Dalyell, was accused of attempting to charge £18,000 for two bookcases two months before he stood down as an MP in 2005.
The furore surrounding Malik forced Brown to act early yesterday. It was alleged Malik should have declared on the ministerial register that the rent on his constituency home was below the market rate, so making him potentially beholden to the landlord. The prime minister told him to step down after discussions with the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, and the justice secretary, Jack Straw. The true market value of the rent of the home was a matter of dispute, and some ministers said Malik had been made a sacrificial lamb. He said he would return to the government with his head held high.
Morley, the former minister suspended from the parliamentary Labour party on Thursday, said he might quit as the MP for Scunthorpe over the issue. He said: "What matters to me is the view of my local people and my local party. I need to talk this through with them."
Similar signs of a grassroots rebellion were emerging in the Tory party, with two-thirds of those polled on the Conservative Home website urging the Tory MP Andrew Mackay, to quit over his expenses
The Guardian has learned that the radical proposal is expected to be agreed next week by Labour's national executive, a move that acknowledges the deep anger among voters to the escalating scandal over MPs' claims.
Gordon Brown has also given ministers a Monday night deadline to ensure their expenses claims for the past five years are lodged with the parliamentary authorities and ready for publication.
Any deselection would happen after the parliamentary commissioner for standards had ruled that an MP had been found clearly guilty of improperly claiming.
The prime minister, who is expected to give a major TV interview on Sunday, is to resist a more sweeping grassroots proposal from leftwing NEC members that would compel every sitting Labour MP to go though a fresh selection process so the public can be reassured all candidates are "fit and proper persons" to stand at the election. Labour officials met and said such a move would be unfair.
In another rollercoaster day which saw the first ministerial casualty of the affair and signs of simmering public anger, Scotland Yard and the Crown Prosecution Service announced they were setting up a joint panel to consider multiple allegations that MPs have broken the law in their expenses claims. The police said they were acting because they had received so many complaints from the public.
In other key developments:
• A second Labour backbencher, David Chaytor, was forced to concede tonight that he had claimed £13,000 in expenses to cover mortgage interest payments on his London flat after the mortgage had been paid off. Downing Street said Chaytor was likely to be interviewed by Nick Brown, the chief whip, and face suspension from the parliamentary party along with a similar backbench offender Elliot Morley. Chaytor said he had made an unforgivable error and would repay the money.
• Lord Foulkes, a close friend of the Speaker, Michael Martin, gave a broad hint that Martin had decided to resign before the election, saying it was logical for him to do so by then.
• Shahid Malik, the justice minister, was forced to stand down from his post by Brown pending an investigation into whether an allegedly subsidised rental of a home in his Dewsbury constituency represented a breach of the ministerial code. He is the first minister to be disciplined since the allegations started, but last night won the support of his local party.
• William Hague, the Tory deputy leader, revealed he was going to divest himself of the vast bulk of his outside interests, a decision that will put pressure on the other shadow cabinet members.
• David Cameron, battling to keep abreast of public anger over the allegations of sleaze, told his Scottish Tory party that this was a time of "great danger" for democracy in the UK.
• The deputy leader of the house, Chris Bryant, was forced to deny stories that he had flipped his second home.
• The former father of the house, Tam Dalyell, was accused of attempting to charge £18,000 for two bookcases two months before he stood down as an MP in 2005.
The furore surrounding Malik forced Brown to act early yesterday. It was alleged Malik should have declared on the ministerial register that the rent on his constituency home was below the market rate, so making him potentially beholden to the landlord. The prime minister told him to step down after discussions with the cabinet secretary, Sir Gus O'Donnell, and the justice secretary, Jack Straw. The true market value of the rent of the home was a matter of dispute, and some ministers said Malik had been made a sacrificial lamb. He said he would return to the government with his head held high.
Morley, the former minister suspended from the parliamentary Labour party on Thursday, said he might quit as the MP for Scunthorpe over the issue. He said: "What matters to me is the view of my local people and my local party. I need to talk this through with them."
Similar signs of a grassroots rebellion were emerging in the Tory party, with two-thirds of those polled on the Conservative Home website urging the Tory MP Andrew Mackay, to quit over his expenses
China builds first sex theme park
China is building what is billed as its first sex theme park, aimed at improving both the sex education and the sex life of its visitors.
Due to open in Chongqing in October, Love Land will include displays of giant genitalia, naked bodies and an exhibition on the history of sex.
The park will also offer sex technique workshops and safe-sex methods.
Among the attractions is a giant rotating statue of the lower part of a nearly naked woman.
"Sex is a taboo subject in China but people really need to have more access to information about it," the park's manager, Lu Xiaoqing told the China Daily state newspaper.
"We are building the park for the good of the public. I have found that the majority of people support my idea, but I have to pay attention and not make the park look vulgar and nasty."
He was inspired to build the park after a visit to South Korea's popular sex theme park in Jeju.
Critics say Love Land is a vulgar concept, and that the Chinese people are not ready to talk publicly about sex.
"These things are too exposed," Liu Daiwei, a Chongqing policewoman, was quoted as saying by the China Daily.
"I will feel uncomfortable to look at them when other people are around."
Due to open in Chongqing in October, Love Land will include displays of giant genitalia, naked bodies and an exhibition on the history of sex.
The park will also offer sex technique workshops and safe-sex methods.
Among the attractions is a giant rotating statue of the lower part of a nearly naked woman.
"Sex is a taboo subject in China but people really need to have more access to information about it," the park's manager, Lu Xiaoqing told the China Daily state newspaper.
"We are building the park for the good of the public. I have found that the majority of people support my idea, but I have to pay attention and not make the park look vulgar and nasty."
He was inspired to build the park after a visit to South Korea's popular sex theme park in Jeju.
Critics say Love Land is a vulgar concept, and that the Chinese people are not ready to talk publicly about sex.
"These things are too exposed," Liu Daiwei, a Chongqing policewoman, was quoted as saying by the China Daily.
"I will feel uncomfortable to look at them when other people are around."
Gang fools Mexico prison guards
An armed gang disguised as police has broken into a jail in northern Mexico and freed more than 50 prisoners.
A convoy of at least 15 vehicles arrived at the prison with gang members all apparently disguised as federal police officers.
Once inside, the prison authorities were persuaded that an inspection was under way and guards were overpowered.
A manhunt is underway for the fugitives - believed to be linked to the powerful drug smuggling Gulf cartel.
Army troops as well as local and federal police have begun a search and set up roadblocks near the prison facility in Zacatecas and neighbouring states.
President Felipe Calderon has declared war on the illegal narcotic organisation in Mexico, deploying 40,000 troops to fight the cartels.
In some regions instances of beheadings and attacks on police have become commonplace, with the deaths of 6,000 people last year alone blamed on illegal narcotics.
But progress in the war against the cartels has been limited by the fact that in the face of well armed and well financed drug cartels, this country's law and order institutions have proved weak and easily corruptible, the BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Mexico City says.
A convoy of at least 15 vehicles arrived at the prison with gang members all apparently disguised as federal police officers.
Once inside, the prison authorities were persuaded that an inspection was under way and guards were overpowered.
A manhunt is underway for the fugitives - believed to be linked to the powerful drug smuggling Gulf cartel.
Army troops as well as local and federal police have begun a search and set up roadblocks near the prison facility in Zacatecas and neighbouring states.
President Felipe Calderon has declared war on the illegal narcotic organisation in Mexico, deploying 40,000 troops to fight the cartels.
In some regions instances of beheadings and attacks on police have become commonplace, with the deaths of 6,000 people last year alone blamed on illegal narcotics.
But progress in the war against the cartels has been limited by the fact that in the face of well armed and well financed drug cartels, this country's law and order institutions have proved weak and easily corruptible, the BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Mexico City says.
Sri Lanka army 'defeats rebels'
The Sri Lankan president has declared a military victory over the Tamil Tigers after 26 years of bloody civil war.
Speaking on a visit to Jordan, Mahinda Rajapakse said he would return home to a nation totally free from the "barbaric acts" of the rebel group.
However, senior officials told the BBC fighting rages on in a tiny area of the north-east where the Tigers' leadership is said to be cornered.
More than 70,000 people have died in the bitter war for a Tamil homeland.
See a map of the conflict region
The last weeks of the war have been marked by a growing chorus of international concern over the fate of Tamil civilians caught up in the intense fighting.
Sri Lanka's military spokesman, Brig Udaya Nanayakkara, says 25,000 civilians have made it out of the conflict zone in the past 72 hours, 11,800 of them on Saturday alone.
However, more remain inside the small area where the Tamil Tigers may be preparing for a fight to the death.
The UN and Western governments have called on Sri Lanka to exercise restraint in its pursuit of a military victory over the Tigers.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has become the latest leader to speak out on the issue, declaring on Saturday that there would be "consequences" if Sri Lanka did not work to ensure an orderly end to the conflict.
'Humanitarian operation'
Speaking in Jordan, Mr Rajapakse said: "My government, with the total commitment of our armed forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation finally defeated the LTTE militarily.
"I will be going back to a country that has been totally freed from the barbaric acts of the LTTE," he added
But the BBC's Charles Haviland, in the capital, Colombo, says a senior government spokesman in Jordan with the president could not confirm that fighting had ended in the north-east.
There are now concerns that the Tamil Tiger leadership is preparing for a last stand, our correspondent says.
The Tigers' leadership has said repeatedly that they will not surrender, and are thought to be keeping thousands of civilians as human shields.
There have also been reports that the Tigers are preparing a mass suicide in the face of a military defeat.
A UN spokesman, Gordon Weiss, told Associated Press the organisation still had "grave fears" for the safety of an estimated 30,000 to 80,000 people still inside the combat zone.
Earlier, Sri Lanka's defence secretary told the BBC that the army was closing in on the remaining fighters for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the full name for the Tamil Tigers).
"We have restricted the LTTE to one square kilometre-like area, so we will mop up and seize the rest of the LTTE cadres and the leadership," Gotabhaya Rajapakse said.
He said the army did not know exactly where to find rebel leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran, but expressed confidence he would be tracked down.
"If he has not committed suicide then he should be there," Mr Rajapakse said.
Prabhakaran began the fight for a separate state for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils in the early 1970s, progressing into a violent civil war in 1983.
Tigers landlocked
The capture of the Tigers' last remaining stretch of coastline earlier on Saturday was hailed as a decisive breakthrough by Sri Lanka's army.
Few images exist of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran
For the first time ever the rebels do not have sea access, and the army is "progressing" to clear remaining rebel-held land, Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said.
Speaking after the president's statement, he said military action in the north-east was ongoing, also branding it a "rescue, humanitarian operation".
The Tigers once boasted a deadly and much-feared naval strike capability, often using boats to launch lethal attacks during the long years of their guerrilla campaign.
State TV showed images of explosions and plumes of smoke rising from close to the coastline, as well as images of celebrating troops in coastal areas.
The army said the scenes proved that the Tigers were blowing up their own caches of ammunition, but there is no independent confirmation of that claim.
Speaking on a visit to Jordan, Mahinda Rajapakse said he would return home to a nation totally free from the "barbaric acts" of the rebel group.
However, senior officials told the BBC fighting rages on in a tiny area of the north-east where the Tigers' leadership is said to be cornered.
More than 70,000 people have died in the bitter war for a Tamil homeland.
See a map of the conflict region
The last weeks of the war have been marked by a growing chorus of international concern over the fate of Tamil civilians caught up in the intense fighting.
Sri Lanka's military spokesman, Brig Udaya Nanayakkara, says 25,000 civilians have made it out of the conflict zone in the past 72 hours, 11,800 of them on Saturday alone.
However, more remain inside the small area where the Tamil Tigers may be preparing for a fight to the death.
The UN and Western governments have called on Sri Lanka to exercise restraint in its pursuit of a military victory over the Tigers.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has become the latest leader to speak out on the issue, declaring on Saturday that there would be "consequences" if Sri Lanka did not work to ensure an orderly end to the conflict.
'Humanitarian operation'
Speaking in Jordan, Mr Rajapakse said: "My government, with the total commitment of our armed forces, has in an unprecedented humanitarian operation finally defeated the LTTE militarily.
"I will be going back to a country that has been totally freed from the barbaric acts of the LTTE," he added
But the BBC's Charles Haviland, in the capital, Colombo, says a senior government spokesman in Jordan with the president could not confirm that fighting had ended in the north-east.
There are now concerns that the Tamil Tiger leadership is preparing for a last stand, our correspondent says.
The Tigers' leadership has said repeatedly that they will not surrender, and are thought to be keeping thousands of civilians as human shields.
There have also been reports that the Tigers are preparing a mass suicide in the face of a military defeat.
A UN spokesman, Gordon Weiss, told Associated Press the organisation still had "grave fears" for the safety of an estimated 30,000 to 80,000 people still inside the combat zone.
Earlier, Sri Lanka's defence secretary told the BBC that the army was closing in on the remaining fighters for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the full name for the Tamil Tigers).
"We have restricted the LTTE to one square kilometre-like area, so we will mop up and seize the rest of the LTTE cadres and the leadership," Gotabhaya Rajapakse said.
He said the army did not know exactly where to find rebel leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran, but expressed confidence he would be tracked down.
"If he has not committed suicide then he should be there," Mr Rajapakse said.
Prabhakaran began the fight for a separate state for Sri Lanka's minority Tamils in the early 1970s, progressing into a violent civil war in 1983.
Tigers landlocked
The capture of the Tigers' last remaining stretch of coastline earlier on Saturday was hailed as a decisive breakthrough by Sri Lanka's army.
Few images exist of Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran
For the first time ever the rebels do not have sea access, and the army is "progressing" to clear remaining rebel-held land, Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said.
Speaking after the president's statement, he said military action in the north-east was ongoing, also branding it a "rescue, humanitarian operation".
The Tigers once boasted a deadly and much-feared naval strike capability, often using boats to launch lethal attacks during the long years of their guerrilla campaign.
State TV showed images of explosions and plumes of smoke rising from close to the coastline, as well as images of celebrating troops in coastal areas.
The army said the scenes proved that the Tigers were blowing up their own caches of ammunition, but there is no independent confirmation of that claim.
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