So, as anyone who has attempted to venture anywhere near the UN today has probably noticed, the 62nd UN General Assembly meetings are going on. Actually, many people may have noticed because of all the coverage of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s talk at Columbia today. As I was unable to attend due to uh, prior commitments or something, I managed to get all the scoop by reading the liveblogging at NY Magazine’s Daily Intelligencer. Highlights include the university president talking smack, Ahmadinejad complaining about it, and a denial that Iran has homosexuals:

There is laugher and booing. He looks a little sheepish but continues on: “We don’t have homosexuals. In Iran we do not have this phenomenon, I don’t know who told you that we have it.” Man, you Americans think everyone is gay.

And, of course, a retard joke to top off the skirting of the Holocaust denial and Israel questions:

Ahmadinejad cuts loose: “I have a joke here,” he says. “I think politicians who are looking for the nuclear weapons are retarded.” Even audience members who showed up stoned (”I can’t wait to tell my kids I did this, dude”) are flummoxed.

Apparently, everything was conducted with decorum and fairly civil discourse, though there were lots of protests, as evidenced by the image in Irina’s post.

Were you there? What did you think?