For anyone that cares, this is a slightly less stupid Python version:

    #!/usr/bin/env python3
    from os   import environ; E = environ.get
    from math import sin
    from time import sleep
    text = "♥PEACE♥FOR♥ALL" # The text to sine-scroll animate
    nText  = len(text)      # Number of utf8 chars
    freq   = 0.2            # Frequency scaling factor
    color0 = 12             # xt256 Color cube segment 12..<208
    color1 = 208; nColor = color1 - color0
    (w, h) = (int(E("COLUMNS", 80)), int(E("LINES", 24)))
    t = 0
    while True:
        x = (w/2) + (w/4)*sin(t*freq)           # x pos via sine value
        x = max(0, min(w - 1, int(x + 0.5)))    # bound to tty width
        color = color0 + ((nColor*t)//h)%nColor # cycle colors
        ch = text[t%nText]  # Get char & Use xterm-256 color escs
        print("%*s\033[38;5;%sm%s\033[m\n" % (x, "", color, ch))
        t += 1
        sleep(0.1)   # original used bc shell outs to rate-limit