The Walgreens around the corner from my place recycles batteries, so I have stopped feeling so bad about it. =D
As for the Iran Air 747 thing, have you ever read Bonfire of the Vanities. If the little vignette about the guy who flies Arabs and Persians has any truth to it back then, I can get the humor of it quote.
Yeah, the problem with NiMH is they lose their charge fairly quickly when you don't use them. So, while they're great in my digital camera, I keep some alkalines handy to pop in while they are recharging because I can't use spare set of rechargables.