Airport security in the USA

On a recent trip to Cleveland I had all my things in a carry-on luggage. On arrival, I realized that the security at BWI let me through will a number of items that are forbidden: a large tube of toothpaste, two bottles of cologne, laundry detergent in a metal tube, a Swiss army knife, and a few other things. Even more interesting, last week I took an international flight out of Philadelphia for St Maarten and after checking in, and right before I was to get in the security line, I discovered that I was given a boarding pass with the name Patricia Rohan. I went back to the same employee, who seemed rather shocked and who asked me: "How did that happen?"