  We introduce notions of free energy and loss in linear, absorbing dielectric
media which are relevant to the regime in which the macroscopic Maxwell
equations are themselves relevant. As such we solve a problem eluded to by
Landau and Lifshitz in 1958, and later considered explicitly by Barash and
Ginzburg, and Oughtsun and Sherman. As such we provide physically-relevant
real-time notions of "energy" and "loss" in all analogous linear dissipative
systems.
