I never used a passport going into the USA until after 9/11. I haven't tried without one since then.

Sad to say, the rules have changed for everyone thanks to Osama. I do think the Americans have gone a bit overboard, but that is a Canadian luxury we have here to sit back in safety and criticize the target country.

As for the comments about searching little old ladies - duh! If terrorists knew that the easy way to smuggle stuff was to shove it under an old lady's lap rug (The more senile, the better!), or a baby's diaper, they would. That's why kids and pregnant women and little old ladies get searched at customs and at airports. If the random number says "search this person, no matter what they look like" then that is a risk that may frighten away some, and catch some.

My wife's handbag was swabbed for explosives on Sept. 9, 2001 at JFK. Obviously someone in Al Queda had decided that explosives were not worth risking in America airports... I wonder why. (Even the shoe-bomber didn't build his own shoes; they were assembled by someone else who left fingerprints and a hair sample, I heard).