Newbie here. I've read through a LOT (but not yet all) of the announcements, contributions, and the other "recent developments". Some thoughts, starting at the beginning.

Starting at the top of 5/1/81:

1) SR/CL -

a) The use of the colon afterwards suggests that this is either addressed to "SR/CL", or what follows is a list or series. http://www.writingcenter.emory.edu/colonsemi.html

b) I can't seem to shake a couple feelings about "SR/CL". The first is this is some of initiation puzzle for a student MENSA organization (or similar type of group). So SR/CL may mean "Senior Class" (referring to a puzzle the Seniors in the organization have to pass.)

c) The second is that this is all some sort of scavenger hunt, or it began as a sort of scavenger hunt. So "SR" may mean something like "Search & Retrieve" (or Recover, or Rescue), and "CL" may mean Check List. This theory somewhat falls apart as the early announcements do not really look like lists...

d) All the shipping & commerce references in the later MDM announcements suggest that "SR/CL" may be shipping related. Best fit is "Shipping (or Shipment) Request" & "Container (or Car) Load" (or possibly "Commercial bill of Lading" - though that is typically "CBL")

e) Other possibilities that seem to fit recurring MDM themes (in no particular order):
"SR" - Scheduled Result, Send & Receive, Social Reform, Special Relativity, Square Root
"CL" - Closed Loop, Common Law, Compartmentalized Level, Computational Linguistics, Carbon-based Lifeforms, Chess League(?)

f) IMO the best fit: "Status Report/Circular Letter" (as in a letter intended for general circulation aka circular, flyer)

g) Sr = element Strontium (38), Cl = element Chlorine (17). Together, they form strontium chloride = SrCl2. The slash may possibly indicate division; however, 38/17 = 2.2352...?? I couldn't come up with anything numerically important with 38 & 17. Could it refer to a chapter/verse - something 38:17?? I may be reaching a bit, but there is so much with permutations and reversals - the slash may represent a switch? Leading to "1738"? Apparently strontium chloride is something called a "scavenger receptor" - and is used in toothpastes to reduce sensitivity.

2) "Richmond" -

a) It appears that the Orphanage uses multiple metaphors to refer to the same things. So all the "Richmonds" probably refer to 1 thing.

b) Richmond appears to come from the French "Richemont" - thus "rich" + "mount(ain?)"

b) The best guesses so far appear to be Richmond IL (because of other IL refs) and Richmond VA (because of assoc with Confederacy).

c) alternative suggestion: Richmond RI would seem to possibly be important to the Orphanage, given later mentions of Roger Williams & the Narragansett (see also http://www.maydaymystery.org/mayday/texts/feb1torepub.html - note: http://www.guam.net/home/wresch/stories/churchhistory/13%20Roger%20Williams.html "He thought people should be free to worship God as they chose, or chose not, without fear of punishment by their government. This made him a heretic.") Richmond separated from Charlestown (presumably named after Charles I) in 1747; Charlestown was formed in 1738. Also - Rhode Island was the first of the British colonies in America to declare its independence on May 4, 1776. Williams was a Calvinist.

3) "Long Live Chairman Mao!" seems to have been sufficiently discussed already. At least one point that seems to not have been really addressed - as "10,000" = "a really longtime" or "infinity", this seems to fit into a recurring MDM theme: life extension (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_extension), eternal life, life after death, resurrection.

Perhaps of interest: http://www.giles.34sp.com/biographies/mao.htm "Mao put a stop to that nonsense by launching the Cultural Revolution (1966) which preached perpetual revolution against the entire establisment {sic} - except Mao, naturally." - empahasis on PERPETUAL REVOLUTION

4) "May Day, 1981" -

a) "May Day" (May 1) seems to have 2 main connotations: as a sort of pagan celebration (Beltane), and as International Worker's Day. The Orphanage doesn't seem like the pagan type... Despite the Chairman Mao/socialist/communist themes, they seem to be engaged in a lot of capitalist behavior - so I not sure that IWD applies either... Ultimately, it seems to be used more because of the 5/1/72 Agenda than anything else.

b) "Mayday" is a radio call used by ships in distress (from the French m'aider).

c) "May 1" - again - is a "cross-quarter day". These are the mid-points between the solstices and equinoxes. The 4 cross-quarter days are May Day, Lammas, All Saints Day, and Candlemass. (The pagan correlates are Beltane, Lunasa, Samhain, and Imbolc - the Greater Sabbats.) Mentioned because "cross" and "quarter" recur in the MDM.

* summary

So, what do they have to do with each other? SR/CL + Richmond + Long Live Chairman Mao + May Day 1981 = ??

*a) Interestingly - http://members.aol.com/jweaver300/grayson/1vainf.htm - "The 1st Virginia Infantry of the Confederate States Army was organized on May 1, 1851 from nine militia units in the Richmond area."

*b) (Assuming 1738 is valid) http://www.dinsdoc.com/davis-1-2.htm - "An act was passed forbidding persons to pass or receive bills of the neighboring governments emitted after May 1, 1738, unless they were made redeemable by lawful money, within ten years from their first emission."

*c) (Assuming 1738 is valid) http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/11-15/12-6.htm - John Wesley (Methodist founder) founded a religious society in London on May 1, 1738, the Fetter Lane Society, influenced by the Moravians. Later that month, Wesley had an epiphany while reading Luther. Could possiblytie in with later SMU refs?

What could Wesley & Williams possibly have to do with Mao???!!!

http://wesley.nnu.edu/wesleyan_theology/theojrnl/01-05/02-7.htm

"There are two problems that automatically arise concerning an interpretation of Wesley's eschatology. First, the fact that he fails to develop a full scheme of eschatology has led some to doubt whether the subject is of any value to Wesley at all. (2) It is Lawson's observation that "Wesley was not one of those to whom a vivid sense that the 'end of the world' is at hand was an important part of religion." (3)"

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3817/is_200403/ai_n9401095

"According to Yeo, when the Communist regime came to power, it seriously adopted a policy of religious freedom, , and the Chinese church should have clarified for believers and the society the possible fruitful interaction between the communist utopia and the Christian eschaton. However, due to the fundamentalist emphasis on judgment and destruction of the world during the end time, preaching on eschatology was prohibited in China."

Unfortunately, I don't yet have a concrete grasp on Roger Williams eschatological beliefs - This page has two quotes that appear diametrically opposite:

http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0395.htm

'Hear Roger Williams' unequivocal utterance on the personal and imminent Advent of our Lord: "It is the council of God," he says, "that Jesus Christ shall shortly appear, a most glorious Judge and Revenger against all his enemies, while the heavens and the earth shall flee before his most glorious presence." But what did Roger Williams believe as to the conditions of things on earth at Christ's appearing? Did he hold to that "from time immemorial" Baptist doctrine, the conversion of the world previous to the second Advent? Listen to him again. "The Lord will come when an evil world is ripe in sin, and Anti-Christianism; will come suddenly, and then will he melt the earth with fire and make it new. Till then I wait and hope."'