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Former US president Barack Obama (left) talked to Indonesian President Joko Widodo (right) during their meeting at the Botanical Garden near the Presidential Palace complex in Bogor, Indonesia.

BOGOR, Indonesia (AP) Former U.S. President Barack Obama and his family arrived Friday in his childhood home of Jakarta on the end of a 10-day vacation in Indonesia, where they visited ancient temples and went whitewater rafting.

Local television news channels broadcast live coverage of the familys arrival in the capital.

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Indonesian President Joko Jokowi Widodo met Obama at the Bogor Palace in West Java, a grand Dutch colonial building about 55 kilometers (35 miles) south of Jakarta that is famous for its botanical gardens and a herd of spotted deer that roam the grounds.

The two jumped into a golf cart with Jokowi at the wheel and headed off to a cafe nestled inside in the lush gardens.

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Many Indonesians have drawn comparisons between Jokowi and Obama, who were both highly popular during their election campaigns.

After becoming president, many here viewed Obama as a native son and saw him as a symbol of hope and religious tolerance because of his years living in the worlds most populous Muslim country.

A statue of the boy still remembered as Barry by childhood friends was erected outside the elementary school he once attended in the capitals upscale, leafy neighborhood of Menteng.

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This is the last opportunity for us to meet with Barry, our childhood friend who has made us so proud, said Widianto Cahyono, who sat next to Obama in the fourth grade and is hopeful the former president will visit his old neighborhood. We have long waited for a reunion with him.

AP

Former US President Barack Obama walked during his visit to Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

Obama also retains a soft spot for Indonesia, where he lived from age 6 to 10. He moved to Jakarta in 1967 after his mother split up with his father and remarried an Indonesian man. They had his half-sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, who is traveling with the family.

After her second marriage failed, Obamas mother, Ann Dunham, stayed on in Indonesia and Obama returned to Hawaii to live with his grandparents.

During a 2010 presidential visit, he delighted onlookers by proclaiming in Bahasa Indonesia that bakso, a savory meatball soup, and nasi goreng, flavorful fried rice, are delicious. They are two of the countrys signature dishes.

Prior to arriving in Jakarta, Obama, his wife Michelle and daughters Sasha and Malia visited the resort island of Bali where they stayed in the tranquil mountain enclave of Ubud, touring sweeping terraced rice paddies and rafting the Ayung river. They then traveled to the historic city of Yogyakarta, where Obamas mother did anthropology research, and visited Borobudur, a ninth century Buddhist temple complex, as well as the ancient Prambanan Hindu temple compound.

Obama is scheduled to speak at an Indonesian Diaspora Congress in Jakarta on Saturday.

BOY TRIHARJANTO/european pressphoto agency

Former US president Barack Obama (center, back) visited the Prambanan Temple.

N. Agung Nugroho/AP

Obama (center) walked with his daughter Malia (left) during his visit to Prambanan Temple in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.

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When big-name stars hit NBA free agency, teams will do whatever it takes to make them feel valued. The Clippers know first-hand what some tender love and care can dotheir stakeout at DeAndre Jordan's house helped them retain the center after a big push from the Dallas Mavericks a couple years ago.

So after losing Chris Paul to the Houston Rockets, the Clippers knew they had to do whatever it took to make sure they didn't lose Blake Griffin. As part of their effort to make him feel special, Clippers employees shirts with Griffin's face on it, sitting next to some of the most iconic figures of modern times, including former President Barack Obama, Martin Luther King Jr., Albert Einstein, and more.

With all due respect to Griffinthe guy helped turn the damn Clippers around, it should be notedplacing him next to those figures is alittlemuch. The reactions to the shirt were mixed on Twitter, with some people finding it hilarious and others thinking it was blasphemous to draw these comparisons.

Before you go around getting too upset about it, however, there's some added context behind the shirt. The original version of the shirt was given out to all the Clippers during the preseason, and did not include Griffin's face on it at the time. Since it was used as a motivational tool and source of inspiration for the team, it makes some sense that they would run it back again with a prominent addition when the moment was right.

So this might look weird from an outsider's perspective, but it's a doubling down of something the organization wanted Griffin and his Clippers teammates to focus on prior to this past season. It shows there's some follow through on a goal they wanted their players to aspire to, and even if it's pretty unrealistic to end up alongside men like those on the shirt, it can't hurt to continue to push him down that path.

And hey, it worked! Griffin will be back in Los Angeles after signing an enormous contract extension with the Clippers, where he'll get to be the true leading man now that Paul is in Houston. Here's hoping he takes his opportunity and runs with it.

Send all complaints, compliments, and tips to sportstips@complex.com.

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Clippers Employees Wore T-Shirt Comparing Blake Griffin to MLK, Barack Obama to Free Agency Meeting - Complex

Sen. Rand Paul said Thursday that the health care bill should be split into two pieces of legislation in order to pass an Obamacare repeal.

"I think if we take this bill and split it into two pieces, we pass one that is more, looks like repeal that conservatives like. And then the other one you load up with all kinds of Christmas ornaments and gifts and money and just pile money on it that the Democrats will vote for and some of the Republicans will vote for," the Kentucky Republican said in an interview on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."

Paul predicts that "both [would] end up passing" if Senate Republicans pursued that path."It may not be completely good for the country, but you at least get the repeal that way," Paul added.

The repeal bill, he said, could repeal Obamacare's taxes and regulations and include Medicaid reform, but he said it would be "much narrower" and "much cleaner."

Paul reiterated that he doesn't "support the current bill and won't vote for it unless it changes or gets better." He was among the first few Senate Republicans to come out against the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) last week.

In the interview Thursday, Paul admitted that "half of the Republicans hate it," in addition to all of the Democrats. Republicans technically need 51 votes to pass the legislation, but one vote can be Vice President Mike Pence's tie-breaking vote. That means leadership needs at least 50 Senate Republicans to back it, and assuming all Democrats vote against it, Republicans can only afford two defections. The Senate currently has 52 Republicans and 48 Democrats.

Paul said Thursday he supports a plan that would expand beyond Obamacare.

"I'm for letting every individual in the market join a co-op or a buying group and then they would be part of a large group, they'd be protected against pre-existing conditions. But they'd also be able to get a cheaper price," he said. "But this only works if you free up and get rid of the mandates and regulations. Because you have to legalize inexpensive insurance."

Senate leadership is aiming to produce a revised health care bill by Friday to send to the Congressional Budget Office to be scored over the July 4 recess.

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Rand Paul says splitting up health care bill could improve ...

Conservative Review

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With time further expiring on House Republicans long list of legislative goals, members have again asked Speaker Paul Ryan to cancel the chambers August recess.

During the 2016 elections, President Trump and Republican candidates running for the House and Senate promised the American people that with unified Republican government we could achieve many of the policy priorities that have been mere wishes for the last several years, Arizona GOP Rep. Andy Biggs wrote in his letter to Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican.

Biggs and the 11 other House Republicans who signed the letter Friday cited a long list of pressing issues on our docket including the repeal of ObamaCare, passing a tax reform plan, reign in federal spending and working toward balancing the budget.

The American people put their faith in us and are counting on us to carry out these goals, they also wrote.

Congress on Friday broke for a roughly two-week Fourth of July recess and will return to Washington for about 14 legislative working days before their month-long August break.

The letter also cited the need to pass a federal budget and appropriate federal funding by Sept. 30, when the U.S. government technically runs out of money.

And it cited the need to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, the Childrens Health Insurance Program, the National Flood Insurance Program and Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

The House Freedom Caucus -- roughly 30 of the chambers most conservative members including Biggs -- was among the first to support the effort to cancel the August recess.

The group said in early June that Congress must remain in session this summer to continue working to accomplish the priorities of the American people.

White House budget Director Mick Mulvaney recently said that he supports Congress staying in session through at least part of August.

And White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway has made clear that President Trump, a businessman and real estate mogul by trade, wants faster results.

When he says drain the swamp, its not just about getting rid of all the crocodiles in the water that we dont need. Its about moving at a different pace, she recently told Fox News Fox & Friends.

The GOP-led Senate is perhaps under an even tighter deadline, after leaving for July break without passing their ObamaCare overhaul bill.

Still, getting Republican congressional leaders to cancel or shorten the August recess, practically a perennial request, is unlikely.

Capitol Hill lawmakers historically use August to travel in delegations to foreign countries.

This year, a trip to China is scheduled through the U.S. Asia Institute, and a trip to Israel is being led by the American Israel Education Foundation, according to a high-ranking congressional aide.

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House Republicans renew call to nix August recess, citing 'long list of pressing issues' - Fox News