Death of the Family Rolls On

The Bat team continues their winning streak with Batman and Batgirl #s 16, the last issues before the big finale in Batman 17. I can't afford to follow all the Bat titles that tie into DotF, but I've tried to keep up each one and everyone's doing a bang up job.
The three I do follow (these two and Morrison/Burnham's Batman Inc) have been flat out amazing. Snyder and Simone are crafting pure gold from these old characters and showing that after more than 70 years Batman can still be as shocking and exciting as ever.
The Joker has been a pure terror, more horrifying than we've ever seen him. With a sick new Leatherface make over and an ever twisting evolution of his traps, few writers have ever made such good use of the Clown Prince of Crime. And as a long time Batgirl fan and always a little pissed over the Killing Joke, it's been a thrill seeing a fully abled Barbara Gordon go toe to toe with Joker.
Now it's all waiting for #17 and and Batman Inc #7...

And oh, GOD, where is Alfred???

Stop F'ing With Batgirl!

So DC Comics, in very classy fashion, has fired Gail Simone from Batgirl via email. Someone explain this to me right now. You know what? Nevermind. I don't want to hear DC's explanation. I'll look on the bright side. Simone will have a creator-owned book out at some point with a company that will appreciate her and the fans will be behind her and DC will certainly find themselves on the wrong side of history.
Gail, thanks for Secret Six, Birds of Prey, and especially Batgirl (and hell, everything else for that matter!) Looking forward to what you do next.
Now, as for Batgirl, aka Barbara Gordon, the series is over for me. I've enjoyed where it was going and I'm not interested in what's next, particularly if its handed over to some dude, even someone I like. Ann Nocenti is probably the only writer that might make me think about continuing with Batgirl, but even then I'll probably just check the trade out from the library.
I don't know any of these people, I probably shouldn't take it personally. But it's crap and it's bush league. You know the old saying; if ain't broke, don't fix it. Well here's a new one; if you break it, f-it, I ain't waiting for you to fix it.